


Spice and Ice and Everything Nice

by TwinEnigma



Category: Naruto
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Drabble Collection, F/M, Flash Fic, Implied Relationships, Mild Language, Ninjas Being Ninjas, sasukarin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-21
Updated: 2009-08-21
Packaged: 2018-05-09 19:39:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 100
Words: 41,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5552708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinEnigma/pseuds/TwinEnigma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SasuKarin in drabbles and ficlets. They are a world of instances and few words. But it's okay, they understand each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Idiot

            Sasuke was an idiot, a great glorious idiot. His idiocy knew no bounds.

            Karin had had quite enough of it.

            “You _moron_!” she shouted, grabbing him by the cloak. “You stupid boy! This isn’t who you are!”

            Sasuke was frozen in her grasp, still dark and cold as an abyss, but he was looking at her, through her. “Karin?”

            “You are an _avenger_!” she shouted in his face. “You are justice!”

            The bodies begged to differ.

            “That isn’t you!” she said, yanking his face closer by the hair. “You’re Sasuke Uchiha, the man who’s going to stop this madness at its source.”

            His icy chakra was now brittle.

            “Avenge yourself,” she ordered and kissed him hard.


	2. Decisions

            This was a very important decision. The success of their mission depended on picking the correct one. Failure meant the inevitable failure of their mission for justice and would force them to retreat indefinitely. Success meant that they could continue their quest to mete out justice.

            “Sasuke, what’s taking so long?” Karin asked, walking up behind him.

            “Karin,” he answered, giving her a look. “I can’t decide.”

            She reached forward, grabbed two boxes off the shelf and tossed them at his chest. “Just get both.”

            Sasuke stared after her, the two boxes of condoms in his arms.

            He smiled.


	3. Silk

            Sasuke liked silk.

            It was smooth and fine against his calloused hands.

            Why, he could run his hands over silk every day of the week.

            “Sasuke,” Karin sighed. “If you like my stockings so much, get your own.”

            He gave her a pointed look. “Karin...”

            “What?”

            “I like them where they are.”


	4. Bitte (Please)

            “Karin.”

            Her name had a thousand and one meanings.

            Before Sasuke, it had been just a name, a name like any other. It meant little beyond the words that made it what it was and the fact that it was hers.

            Now it was a universe.

            “Karin.”

            _Please._

            “Very well,” she said.

            His lip twitched ever so slightly. “Karin.”

            _Thank you._


	5. Non Licet (it is not allowed)

            There are things that are not done.

            They are both quite particular about this.

            But, sometimes, they find themselves breaking the rules.

            Sometimes, Karin’s hand itches to touch him.

            Other times, Sasuke lets her closer than he should.

            They inch towards each other at a snail’s pace, in lingering gazes and brushes of hands.

            It is not allowed.

            But that’s never stopped either of them for very long.


	6. Cassandra

            She was an odd child.

            She had a knack for finding lost pets and could always tell when people were telling the truth. Some people just gave her a nasty vibe and she learned to stay away from them. Others felt _nice._ There were no words to describe it.

            One day, someone told her she was special.

            She could see chakra.

            But he told her no one would believe her.

            And no one did.

            When she told them the armies were coming, they laughed.

            When she told them she knew it because she could feel their chakra approaching, they called her a liar.

            She ran and hid, but the armies found her.

            And then she was saved.

            The two men were monsters. One was a snake made of snakes pretending to be a man and the other was made of mirrors and fragments, all twisted up inside. They scared her.

            But then the boy stepped forward and held out his hand.

            He was made of hidden kindness and there wasn’t a trace of pity or condescension in him.

            “I’m cursed,” she told him.

            He smiled a little. “So am I.”


	7. Amantes sunt Amentes (Lovers are lunatics)

            Sasuke has never claimed to be a paragon of mental health, but he believes he has gone truly and deeply insane.

            The oddest things remind him of something about her and send his heart racing, all doki-doki like a schoolgirl. His hands and body move of their own accord towards her and he can barely arrest the action before she notices.

            Once, he caught a glimpse of her with his Sharingan active. Now it replays every inch of her long legs and those criminal shorts and that red, red hair with all the perfect, indelible memory that evil, traitorous doujutsu of his was bred for. Every centimeter of her body is burned in his brain and he covets the memory like a miser, but hates himself for it. This is not what he should use the Sharingan for, but he can’t help it, it’s already there and it’s like a secret guilty pleasure as he replays the memory over and over again.

            He thinks he might be developing an obsession.

            Karin is not helping matters either.

            He’s like glass in front of her and she knows he’s interested. Sometimes, when no one is watching, she will do something that makes him burn up inside and give him one of those looks that says she knows he’s watching her.

            Torturer, sadist, he wanted to say. He thinks she might be insane, too.

            But, damn, he didn’t want her to stop.


	8. Chiaroscuro

            Karin is like a candle, burning bright. The lantern holding that flame is battered and beaten, but strong and still impervious to the wind.

            Sasuke holds her light ahead of him, the glow bathing him in comfort and warmth even as the shadows deepen to black around him and threaten to devour him.

            Sometimes, she is so bright, it hurts his eyes and he needs to look away.

            But when her flame is in danger of burning out, he does not hesitate to feed it with his own blood and soul.

            She is the light and he the faithful shadow.

            It is impossible to separate the two.

            That’s okay, though.

            He needed her.

            Without her light, he’d already be lost in the darkness.


	9. Disaster Relief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Wingman Suigetsu

            Suigetsu thinks it’s like watching a disaster in slow motion.

            Naturally, the two main parties to the affair haven’t the slightest clue what’s going on. Sasuke is too aloof and Karin is too busy being her normal caustic self. Neither one has the even the barest inkling of an _idea_ that they are flirting with each other. Oh, it hadn’t been too bad when they first formed up. Then, it was sort of cute, but now...

            Honestly, the sexual tension between the two of them is throwing his whole game off and – hell, even Juugo is beginning to notice and Juugo is about as innocent about these things as a small child.

            Sasuke and Karin need to hook up or Suigetsu is going to kill them, plain and simple, because he just can’t take this constant pussyfooting around the issue anymore. They need help.

            And he has the perfect plan.

            Oh, they wouldn’t be happy about it at all when they woke up and Karin would probably beat him into next week, but it’ll be so worth it if it would get their asses in gear and get them actually admit they like each other. It’ll be the best money he’s ever spent.

            “Suigetsu, are you sure Sasuke said to leave him and Karin there?” Juugo asks, nervously looking back at the Love Hotel behind them. “He was pretty out of it.”

            “Yep,” Suigetsu lies. “I’m pretty sure that’s what he said.”

 


	10. Elephant

            There is an elephant in the room.

            It lurks, a great trumpeting beast of an elephant that has been shoved to the corner to be ignored.

            Sasuke knows very well it’s there. He noticed it first. His Sharingan is impossible to fool in these matters. Still, he has no idea how to broach the subject, especially since he is at least partially to blame.

            Karin knows it’s there. She’s not an idiot, thank you very much, and she was very well aware of the possibility when they started down this path. It simply had not occurred to her that they would run into this problem so soon and she finds herself uncomfortable discussing it.

            Suigetsu suspects it as well. He may be an ass, but he certainly isn’t completely unobservant. Juugo, likewise, knows that something is up.

            “Karin,” Sasuke says, face calm.

            “I’m fine,” she replies. “I’m feeling much better today.”

            “You should rest a little longer, Karin,” he says, gently pushing her back down into bed. “The stomach flu took a lot out of you.”

            The elephant remains ignored, though they are both painfully aware of its presence. They can’t ignore it forever.

            His eyes glow with the Sharingan, noting the telltale flicker of extra chakra within her, and then he closes them, sighing heavily.

            Great.

            Now there are _two_ elephants in the room.


	11. Uniform

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High School AU

            The school uniform for girls is neat and crisp, with long smooth lines and a very professional grey suit jacket and black necktie. The skirt is black with crisp pleats and the black stockings do not reach the edge of it.

            Karin is not sure she likes it. She feels a little revealed.

            The door opens.

            It’s Sasuke, her books and new schedule in his arms. He stares at her intently as he sets down her books.

            “It’s short,” she says, tugging at the edge of her skirt and blushing under his scrutiny.

            “It suits you,” he says, smirking.


	12. Sexy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexy no Jutsu strikes again.

            “How far away are they, Karin?”

            She closes her eyes and concentrates. “Two blocks down, the side-street on the left and heading for us. There’s a second team three blocks ahead, coming from the other side.”

            Sasuke frowns, pulling her aside. There’s a small space between two vendor stalls, just large enough for the two of them to stand.

            “They’ll find us,” she says, adjusting her glasses. “We can’t stay here.”

            Behind her head is a torn poster, half-covered in graffiti. The half-naked supermodel in it blows kisses at no one in particular.

            “I have an idea,” he says. “Do as I do.”

            The seals are surprisingly easy to recall and the henge washes over him in a quick burst of smoke, leaving behind a slender, dark-haired girl, her hair in a high ponytail and clothes very similar to those his companion was wearing.

            Karin adjusts her glasses a little, spots of color high on her cheeks. “What the hell?”

            “Karin,” he says, the henge making his voice seem higher and squeaky. He turns his head away for a moment, scanning the street. “Hurry up.”

            “Sasuke,” she grumbles.

            He turns and blinks.

            Standing before him is a boy that could be his mirror, were it not for the red hair, glasses and expression of irritation and embarrassment. Even the clothes were similar.

            “Karin?”

            “It’s only fair,” she says, the henge form smirking wickedly. “You’re in my pants now, so I get to be in yours.”


	13. Remedial

            Karin’s behind in a lot of things. She didn’t start out as a ninja from a big clan that had a long history of ninja in service to their village, nor did she come from a big village at all. She had a lot of catching up to do when she came to Sound and she knew it.

            She feels a little stupid, standing here, while Sasuke demonstrates how to use chakra to walk on water, and tries to focus on the way his cool, kind chakra spreads from his feet in waves to give him purchase.

            “Now you try, Karin,” he says, holding out his hand awkwardly.

            Karin tries to mimic the flow of his chakra to her feet and tentatively steps out onto the water.

            “Easy,” he says, as she takes a step at a time.

            And then she is standing in front of him on the water, the shore behind them.

            “Good job, Karin,” Sasuke says, smirking a little. “Now let’s try running.”

            “Excuse me? I just learned how to w-!”

            She plunges into the water, instinctively grabbing onto him and dragging him down with her.

            They both pop up a second later, gasping for air, his arm linked around her torso, and he quietly begins treading water. There is a blush on his cheeks and he looks anywhere but directly at her. His eyes flicker back and then immediately away as the color in his cheeks deepens.

            Karin blushes, realizing her shirt was white, and then it dawns on her and she smiles.

            Perhaps she’s not the only one who needs remedial lessons.


	14. Last Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Implied Major Character Death, language

            “Karin!”

            The world slows to a crawl.

            Madara has teleported behind her, sword raised. She has a look of surprise on her face and begins to turn, but it is too late. She will never be able to move fast enough.

            Sasuke’s body moves of its accord, adrenaline surging wildly, and he makes a basic substitution seal. Suddenly, he is across the room and she is falling, unharmed into the place he had occupied a moment before.

            A fraction of a second later, Madara’s sword bursts through his chest. He stares at it, almost stupidly, as Karin scrambles to her feet and starts racing toward him.

            “Karin?” Sasuke calls out.

            Naruto bellows in rage and Madara curses loudly, ripping the sword free. Naruto, Kakashi, and those new guys can handle him.

            “You idiot,” Karin says, ripping off her sleeve. She is trying not to cry and she is dirty, bruised and so very, very angry. She’s so beautiful, passionate, and he knows he did the right thing. “You idiot! Don’t you dare die on me, don’t you dare!”

            He hears Sakura and feels the gentle sting of medical jutsu. “Shit, shit, shit, Sasuke! Goddamn it, hang on!”

            “Karin,” he says.

            Her face, streaked with tears and dirt, and that bright red hair is the last thing he sees before the darkness swallows him whole.


	15. First Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Implied major character death, continues off last chapter.

            The first thing Sasuke sees when he opens his eyes is a blurry image of a familiar girl with red hair and red, red eyes behind glasses. He blinks and slowly the world comes back into focus. She is staring down at him with worry, tear tracks staining her dirt-stained face.

            “Karin?” he croaks out tiredly.

            She smiles, her eyes shining with unshed tears, and she brushes the hair from his forehead gently. “Hey, idiot, how do you feel?”

            “Tired,” he manages. The word is sluggish in his mouth, but it’s all he can muster the strength for. His entire body feels like lead and his chakra feels weird.

            He feels a pair of hands lifting him, helping to get him into a sitting position. Karin doesn’t move from his side and he finds himself slumping against her for support.

            “Hey, Sasuke,” Sakura says. She’d been the one helping move him. “You had a close call there. Gave us a hell of a scare.”

            He doesn’t answer. He’s too tired and Karin’s shoulder is comfy. “Madara?”

            “Dead,” Naruto says. He towers over them, but Sasuke can’t muster the energy to look any higher than his kneecaps.

            The new guys are supporting Kakashi just a little beyond Naruto’s legs. They have a strange look on their faces. He tries to move his head to get a better look, but it’s like trying to move a mountain.

            “Kakashi?” Sasuke asks.

            Sakura’s face falls. “About that, Sasuke...”

            He understands before she even says the words. Kakashi is dead and his chakra now moves in Sasuke’s chakra coils. It is why it feels so strange.

            Karin stops her from continuing with a gesture and pulls him closer. “It’s a second chance, Sasuke.”

            “Yeah,” Sasuke agrees. He turns his head a little, until he can hear her heart, and smiles. “Let’s go home... Karin.”


	16. Defiant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-Massacre AU

            “I need you to talk to your little brother, Itachi,” Fugaku says.

            Itachi tilts his head. “What’s he done now, father?”

            “He wants to marry that _girl_ ,” Fugaku states, frowning. “The _refugee_ from that village.”

            Oh, Itachi realizes. So that’s what this was about.

            “He doesn’t understand that he’s the second son of this house and how poorly it will reflect on us if he goes off and marries some refugee!” Fugaku continues, sighing and tugging at his graying hair. “Look at me. I’m getting old, Itachi, and you have not yet married. I worry about who will lead this clan in the future. Please, go talk to your brother. Try to get him to see some sense.”

            Itachi sighs and agrees, if only to placate his father. He has a feeling Sasuke has made up his mind already and nothing he can say will make any difference. But, as the elder, it is his responsibility to at least say something and so, Itachi wanders off in the direction of the apartment his brother shares with his teammates and girlfriend.

            Sasuke answers the door, looking like he’d just stumbled out of the shower and tossed on some clothes. “Oh, it’s you. Let me guess – dad wants you to talk to me about my fiancée.”

            “He’s worried,” Itachi says and it’s true.

            “He shouldn’t be,” Sasuke counters. “You’re the one who’s taking over, so it shouldn’t matter who I marry.”

            “What if something happens to me?” Itachi asks – he knows, once upon a time, it came very close to being the case and as long as he’s still ANBU, it’s always a possibility. “One of these days, someone will get lucky. What then?”

            “Then, dad will just have to deal with it,” Sasuke says, stubbornly. “I’m marrying Karin. He can kick me out of the clan if he wants, but I love her and I will marry her.”

            Itachi sighs. He was right.

            “...and if he doesn’t like it, he can take the clan traditions and shove them up-“ Sasuke continues.

            “Sasuke,” Itachi sighs loudly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

            Sasuke stares at him, blinking, and then breaks into a smile.


	17. Drunk

            Karin is blushing, her eyes shining brightly. She’s had one too many shots and she and Sakura are laughing harder than ever right now as they exchange stories.

            Sasuke’s never seen either of them like this before, but he likes the way Karin licks her lips after each shot and shoots him little looks.

            Sakura’s fist hits the table as she laughs again, nearly fracturing it, and orders another bottle of sake. Next to her, Naruto gives her a nervous look and seems to consider asking her to stop.

            “Karin,” he says.

            Karin stops, the cup of sake halfway to her mouth.

            “You’ve had enough,” he adds, taking the cup from her.

            Karin pouts and Sakura leers.

            “You going to let that prick boss you around?” the pink-haired girl asks and Naruto shoots him an alarmed look, as if to say ‘she doesn’t mean it,’ but Sasuke knows better.

            “Just one more,” Karin pleads, still flushed with color. She licks her lips and pouts again. He could get drunk on those lips.

            Sasuke nods, drinks her cup of sake, and before she can protest the loss, he seals her lips in a kiss. He then draws back, smiling smugly.

            Karin stares at him, blinking and flustered, and then pounces, kissing him greedily.

            “Get a room!” Sakura calls out, laughing loudly.


	18. Possessive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon Typical Violence

            Itachi watches Sasuke and his little team from behind a simple henge as they wander the town. They are looking for him, but he’s not ready to fight them yet. This isn’t the place, there are too many civilians.

            The girl in the party, the redhead, is arguing with a bounty officer on the other side of the street. It seems she knows he’s lying to her, but they’re not getting anywhere and Sasuke seems to have given the other two companions orders not to kill.

            They turn to leave and the man makes a lewd remark to the girl, reaching forward to grab her buttocks.

            In an instant, the man’s fingers are flying through the air. One lands on Itachi’s table.

            “Anyone who touches her will answer to me,” Sasuke says, coldly, the air around him crackling with the pressure of his anger. His chakra all but screams ‘ _she is mine, mine, mine; touch her and I’ll kill you._ ’ He flicks the blood off his sword and sheaths it, the girl already falling into place behind him with an amused look on her face.

            “Check please,” Itachi calls out to the waiter and stands, thoughtfully munching on the last stick of dango.

            Little brother always was rather possessive of his things, even as child.

 


	19. Game

            Karin is winning.

            Sasuke’s sure she’s cheating. Her ability makes it impossible to bluff her.

            “This game is really easy,” she observes, rearranging her cards.

            He stares at his hand. It’s nothing good.

            “You should fold,” Suigetsu says. He’d lost most his clothes, but had folded in time to save his pants. “The Poker Ace here will clean you out.”

            “Suigetsu,” Sasuke says warningly.

            Karin smiles charmingly as she reveals her hand – a Royal Straight Flush.

            Sasuke frowns, and puts his underwear on the table. He is not going to lose this time.

            Karin grins mischievously.

            “You’re screwed now,” Suigetsu laughs and gets up to leave. “Come on, Juugo. Let’s take a walk and leave the lovebirds to their cards.”


	20. Do Not Disturb

            It is quiet.

            Karin tiptoes through their small kitchen and peeks into the next room. The urge to giggle is maddening, but she resists and turns back to get the camera.

            This is a mission of utmost stealth. She must not fail!

            The shutter clicks and the flash makes a soft blip as it fires.

            Sasuke’s eye opens a crack and then slides closed again. “Don’t wake the baby,” he mumbles tiredly.

            In his arms, their baby sleeps, drooling contentedly into his shirt.

            Karin takes another picture, just in case.


	21. Voulez-vous Danser

            Sasuke turns restlessly in bed. He’s trying to sleep, but there’s a noise coming from down the hall and, in the silence of Orochimaru’s South base, it echoes jarringly. He rolls over, sighing, but the sound doesn’t stop. Even with a pillow over his ears he can still hear it. Finally, he’s had enough and drags himself out of bed to investigate.

            The sound’s coming from one of the rooms down the hall from him and he vaguely recalls that Karin lives in one of them. It was hard to keep track, the way everyone kept moving around and it’s darker now, the candles doused for the night.

            A single door is ajar, a slice of light cutting across the hallway floor.

            He crept up quietly and peeked inside.

            Karin is dancing on her bed in a nightshirt. A small radio player on her desk is spitting out a pop song that she’s singing along to even though it’s pretty clear she has no idea what half the lyrics are. She spins and sways, her face flushed from the exertion as she tries to keep up with the beat.

            She looks so happy and kind of almost _pretty_.

            Sasuke blushes. He is _not_ having those kinds of thoughts.

            Karin loses her balance and slips, falling onto the bed and he is through the door before he knows it.

            “S-Sasuke!” she blurts, fumbling with her glasses.

            “Are you all right?” he asks, “I... heard a noise.”

            “Um...” she looks as though she doesn’t believe him. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just slipped.”

            Sasuke tries to look anywhere but her, his eyes drifting to the radio.

            “Sasuke,” Karin says, blushing bright red, “Would you like to dance with me?”

 


	22. Playing Hooky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High School AU

            Undoubtedly, someone is looking for them.

            Sasuke doesn’t seem to care, though. He’s focused on winning the carnival game and he’s been doing really well. Somewhere along the way from the Academy he’s loosened his tie and shirt collar and he looks so much more relaxed.

            Karin pulls his school jacket closer around her shoulders. It’s warm and smells of him.

            They could get caught at any time now and the punishments for truancy in Orochimaru’s Academy are severe. But, she thinks as she nuzzles deeper into his jacket, it’s worth it.

            Sasuke smirks. “Karin, what prize do you want?”

 


	23. Mirror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU Canon Divergence

            The rage is black and ugly, all consuming. He hates and is consumed by its intensity. It grips him like a monster as the connections sink in, digging under his skin and burning him up inside.

            He’s acutely aware that he’s a bomb under Madara’s control, set to go off at a moment’s notice, and it terrifies him, but the rage drowns him in darkness and pain, keeping him from rebelling.

            And then she’s there – red, red hair and all. Her face is smudged with soot, her clothes torn and she’s brought both their team and his old team back with her. Her eyes narrowed behind her broken glasses. “Fight it,” she orders, as they try to remove him.

            He stares into her red eyes and he sees himself, half-blind and broken, tied to the statue and he sees how angry it makes her, that she wants to crush that thing and the one who did this to him, who used her to get to him. She has always reflected him, from the start.

            He grabs onto the reflection in her eyes and fights to hold on.


	24. Magatama

            Karin stares at Sasuke, the one who’s supposed to teach her. Sure, he’s pretty and he’s kind – no matter how well he hides it -, but what’s so special about him?

            “I assure you, I’m not entirely pleased with the arrangement either,” he says. “I came here to get stronger, not teach others.”

            Karin huffs, crossing her arms.

            “But I suppose it makes sense that it would have to be me,” Sasuke says absently. “We both share unique gifts in perception.”

            He’s not lying, but she needs to see it for herself to believe it. “All right, let’s see it. You saw mine, now you show me yours.”

            Sasuke closes his eyes and when he opens them, they’re a beautiful, bloody red, with three tomoe whirling lazily around his pupils. They look like rubies. “These eyes, the Sharingan, give me the power to see and mirror my enemies,” he says and there is no boast in the words. “They can trap people deep within an illusion in an instant or see through even the most difficult of them.”

            Karin considers, looking at them closely. She can feel the tug at her senses, telling her that she is being surrounded by his chakra, but she knows she’s not in danger. “They’re almost like mine,” she says, at last. “Except for the tomoe, of course. One would almost think you’d been touched by heaven like me.”

            He blushes a little. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

            “I’m not. Now could you turn them off? I don’t want to puke on your shoes.”


	25. Legendary

            A long time ago, she was unable to protect herself. She wanted to get stronger, so she’d never be put in that position again. She hated standing alone on the riverbank, watching as the world burned around her, helpless and alone.

            All this loss and it was for _rice_.

            Such a waste, a horrible senseless waste.

            “Come with me,” he’d said, holding out his hand. He smelled of rain and lightning. “You’ll live and you’ll get stronger.”

            And she did.

            He is now her blade, the storm incarnate, and he will never falter as long as she remains strong. She is always there to guide him, her fingers tangled in his hair and the mark of her lips on his flesh.

            Even if their names are forgotten, she will remain by him.


	26. Restoration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heavily AU

            Sasuke does not want to return to Konoha. It’s a place of bad memories and lies built on lies. He heard it was destroyed, but in his mind, it’s sprung back like a weed, the same as ever, nothing changed. But the number of contacts he knows that will harbor them is dwindling and it’s getting harder to move around unnoticed. They will have to stop running soon and the knowledge haunts him.

            They need to be somewhere safe, more now than ever before.

            Grass will not take them. Orochimaru has left a bitter taste in their mouths and, though they have benefited from the population influx generated by the release of all of Orochimaru’s prisoners, it’s a tainted blessing. Not all of them were good people and not all of them left in good condition. They stay with those they can, moving on as fast as they can so as not to cause trouble for the survivors.

            Rain, he wants to avoid. Rain’s leader is former Akatsuki and she might not take kindly to a reminder of her time under Madara’s leadership. They skirt those lands cautiously.

            Suna might take them. Still Sasuke worries. While Juugo might find solace and understanding there, Suigetsu would suffer, and there is the matter of the Kazekage, Gaara, who is just as likely to kill Sasuke as he is to ship him back to Konoha. Sasuke has a feeling Gaara’s never really forgotten their fight in the exams.

            Always, it comes back to Konoha. It’s the only place that has offered a reward for his team returned safely alive, to the man. Suna honors it – other nations do not. He’s afraid, though, that it’ll be the same as it was before, but the Hunter-nin are closer than ever and they’re all tired, Karin more than any of them.

            If he were to lose her now... he couldn’t even bear the thought of it.

            He does not tell them, but Sasuke slowly leads them back to Fire and down paths he vowed never to tread again.

            What greets them at the end of the trail is a different Konoha than the one he remembers. Half of it is still in ruins and the rest is under construction. Only the monument remains as a link to the past and it, too, has changed, a new face greeting them. It is a strange and wondrous sight.

            “Welcome home,” Naruto says, smiling as he appears, the village gathering behind him like a sea of smiling half-familiar faces. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

            Karin twines her fingers with Sasuke’s, one hand resting on her swollen stomach and they stare at a world of hope renewed.

 


	27. Consult

            “...She stared at him, bosom heaving with the fever of their ardor, and then her lips descended, smothering him in passion,” Suigetsu reads aloud, gleefully turning to the next page in the green book. He paused, scanning ahead. “...Wait. Is that even possible?”

            Karin frowned, adjusting her glasses. “I can’t believe you’re reading that trashy romance novel.”

            “It’s _hilarious_ ,” Suigetsu said, giggling a little. “I mean, some of the things they do – man, this is so bad it’s _great_.”

            Juugo ignored them, focusing on his tea and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

            “Still, this can’t be right,” he said, looking over the page again. “Hey, Sasuke! What do you think?”

            “Don’t ask him those kinds of questions!” Karin shouted hotly.

            Sasuke took the book, examined the passage, and for a moment there was silence.

            Suigetsu stared openly, unable to believe he’d actually got the stick-up-his-butt Uchiha to read smut.

            “It seems about right,” Sasuke said, finally, and then smiled, looking at Karin. “Wouldn’t you say so, Karin?”

            Juugo choked on his tea a little and coughed as Karin’s face lit up, bright red.


	28. Regalia

            When he first sees her, he notices that she is already wearing his colors. Her hair and skin are the red and white of the fan respectively and the black soot that bathes her clothes and body remind him of the black clothes his kin favored. Even her eyes are in his colors, a deep red, the almost the same as his Sharingan, and her ability to perceive is unparalleled. Nothing is hidden from her blazing eyes.

            It is not coincidence, then, that he has met her.

            The mere fact that she already wears his colors is a sign to him of divine favor and he convinces her to accompany him. It is a wise choice. She is smart, strong and her passion blazes like the sun. She leads him unfailingly and keeps his secrets, even as he marks her white flesh, over and over, with his colors in little red half moons.

            She does not know it yet, but she is his.

            One day, he’ll tell her, but not yet.

            It is inevitable.

            She is his.


	29. Toast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SAI PLZ, mild language

            Sasuke could feel a headache coming on. He knew, fundamentally, that it had been a terrible idea to invite them. What happened to the nice, quiet reception they’d had planned?

            “Sasuke, you’re the biggest ass I know,” Naruto said, bluntly. His eyes were more than a little unfocused from the sake. “And you’re like the brother I never had but always wanted, even if you _are_ an ass and left us. Bastard.”

            This was a horrible, horrible nightmare. It had to be.

            “But now you’re back,” Naruto’s tone became obnoxiously bright. “And you’ve got a beautiful wife – well, she is! Don’t look at me like that, Sakura! Anyway, here’s to you, you glorious bastard, and your new wife! May our kids not try to kill each other!”

            Naruto saluted them, sloshing sake over his sleeve and downed his cup. Sakura gave them an apologetic grin as she smacked him over the head and passed the microphone to Suigetsu.

            Sasuke paled. This had to be Tsukiyomi or something.

            “So, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say,” Suigetsu said, smiling a little too widely. He was not drunk and somehow that made it worse. “I suppose it was inevitable. The two of you were always feeling each other up when you thought we weren’t looking. And man, until I met you guys, I never knew that it was possible to do everything in the Icha Icha Paradise collection.”

            Naruto made a strange noise from his table that vaguely sounded like he’d just gagged on his drink and Karin raged quietly in her seat, the table cracking under the pressure of her grip.

            “I’m still stunned you two managed to avoid getting splinters,” Suigetsu grinned. “And I’d wish you two good health and many children, but it’d kind of be a moot point since you’re already halfway there. So, to your health!”

            Sakura punched him, splattering his head halfway across the room, and with an innocent smile, handed the microphone to the next person in line.

            “I do not know you very well, but I hope your wife is happy with your penis,” Sai said.

            Sasuke resisted the urge to smash his head against the table.


	30. Vampire

            Karin’s breath hitches as Sasuke sinks his teeth into her shoulder and she can feel the heady pleasure-pain of her chakra being drawn into his mouth. She knows he could easily devour her whole, body and soul, but for now he’s content to take little bits of her chakra here and there. His past bites litter her neck and shoulders in little crescents she knows by heart.

            His wounds close as she moans in pleasure and he collapses, half on top of her, panting hard. She can feel his heart beating through his skin and her chakra running through his battered coils. Idly, she wonders if one day his heart will cease and he will still return, hungry for her chakra.

            “Would you do this to anyone else if they had this ability?” she wonders aloud.

            He shakes his head, curling into a ball at her side, his arm still draped over her waist.

            “Why not?”

            He tugs her closer, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. “...don’t want anyone else.”

 


	31. Breathe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canonical character Death mentioned

            Itachi is dead and everything has turned on its head. Everything he’d believed is a lie. Inside his eyes, he can see the ghost of his brother, etched in an unending loop of memory, and he can feel them burn with grief. It’s agony and every nerve in his head is screaming like fire.

            He’s bawling like a baby when his team enters, curled in on himself to shut the pain and the world out.

            Karin orders them out.

            He hurts and he hates and it’s too much. The pain is unbearable: he _wants_ to die.

            But, Karin is there and she won’t let him give up. She pries his arms apart, shoves her arm into his mouth and forces his jaw to close, pumping her chakra to her skin.

            He doesn’t want to be healed, but he’s too weak to push her away and, instead, he sobs as she pulls him closer and forces her chakra down his throat.

            “Don’t fight me,” she orders. “Just breathe.”

            The burning pain slows, slowly fading, and his sobs melt into steady breaths.

            “Just breathe,” she says, resting his head against her chest. “We still have a long way to go, you and I.”

            He can hear her heartbeat, steady beneath her ribs, and her fingers run through his hair in a soft, familiar way. He’s suddenly more tired than he’s ever been.

            “Just breathe,” she says.

            He sleeps and dreams, her heart beating in time to his breaths.


	32. Grey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU Futurefic

            No matter how he turned his head in front of the mirror, he could _see_ them.

            It started innocently enough – a single strand here and a single strand there. He’d hardly noticed, since he had to be standing just so to see them. But now, there was a definite rebellion on his hands.

            “Honestly, if it bothers you that much, Sasuke, dye it,” Karin said, brushing her hair.

            White had begun to encroach on her hair as well and it made her look like she’d streaked it with pink, like young civilian girls were fond of doing. Both of them now had fine lines at the corners of their eyes and they didn’t seem to be going away this time.

            “Give me the armies of the five great nations any day over getting old,” he sighed, tugging at the grey hair absently.

            Karin giggled, standing on tip-toe to lean over his shoulder and kiss him on the cheek. “Now, now, you’re still the sexy man I married.”

            He was about to whine a little more about his obvious aging when she grabbed his butt and squeezed, a familiar mischievous look on her face.

            “...You’re just more experienced,” she whispered, her lips brushing his ear.

            His brain shut off somewhere between the movement of her lips and the downright sexy way _experienced_ rolled off of them.

            “The kids are gone,” she said, winking at their reflections in the mirror and then sliding away, back towards their bedroom.

            “Experienced, huh?” he murmured, turning to follow her.

            He grinned.

            That sounded about right.


	33. Monstrous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon Typical Violence

            Karin watches as the curse seal crawls across his flesh like flames, darkening his skin and lightening his hair as it tumbles over his shoulders. Wings unfurl from his back in a parody of giant, webbed hands and, at last, she can see the black four-pointed star color his nose.

            The ninja on the other end of the arena wet themselves with fear and she crinkles her nose at the stench.

            Sasuke moves then, a blur of furious chakra brighter than lightning, and descends on them like a giant bird of prey. His sword impales the first ( _he was just following orders_ ) and splits the second from spleen to sternum in a spray of hot blood ( _he touched her_ ). He spins, slashing through another ( _he threatened her_ ) and then abandons the sword as he stalks after the leader of the group. This man, he dirties his hands with, using his fists and claws ( _because he attacked her and touched her lewdly_ ).

            Orochimaru laughs in delight, clapping his hands at the spectacle.

            Sasuke stands, drenched in blood as the curse seal recedes, the bodies of the ninja who’d ambushed her patrol strewn in pieces around him. His eyes find hers and she stares back evenly, unafraid.

            Karin knows who the real monsters are.

            Sasuke isn’t one of them, even if he sometimes looks the part.


	34. First

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU Futurefic, unnamed next gen spawn

            Karin takes a single step forward, her hands held out ahead of her.

            The tiny fingers curled around hers briefly press and their baby takes a shaky step forward.

            A second step follows and then a third, a fourth and the baby is moving steadily.

            She lets go and panic flickers across Sasuke’s face.

            With a happy squeal, the baby runs straight into Sasuke’s waiting arms.

            “I told you he was ready,” she said, adjusting her glasses.

            He gives her a look that’s all sulk.

            “I love you too,” she giggles, kissing him.

            “Papa!”

            Sasuke stares at the baby in surprise and then breaks out in a proud smile.

            “Don’t look so smug,” Karin said, smirking a little. “He knows who spoils him.”

            Sasuke pouts and the baby mimics him.

            Karin can’t help laughing.


	35. Reincarnate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Samurai AU

            There is a girl kneeling at the other end of the field, her haori sleeves tied back and her hair, a bright crimson, peeking out from under the cloth wrapped around her head as she practices the long strokes of calligraphy. She’s not like the other girls around here – they are crass and common, beneath his notice – and he has the funniest feeling he should know who she is, like he’s seen her somewhere before.

            “State your name and business,” she demands, standing, the servant girls brandishing tanto and naginata as they flock to her defense. He can see the finery of her haori and hakama now and the necklace of magatama around her neck – she was no commoner. She was a priestess, likely of high birth, judging by her clothes, her guards and the manner in which she addressed him.

            A lesser samurai would have struck her down without even considering how _out-of-place_ she seemed.

            “My name is Sasuke Uchiha,” he says, standing loosely as he threw back his traveling cloak to reveal his family _mon_ , the paired swords of his birthright hanging visibly at his side. “I’m hunting the criminal who has murdered my family.”

            The girl gives him a calculating, imperious look. “Perhaps we can be of use to each other, Sasuke Uchiha. There is a man I seek to punish as well.”

            He raised an eyebrow.

            “My name is... Karin,” she said diplomatically, and withdrew a polished copper mirror from her sleeve. “I am the eyes of Amateratsu.”

            She raised her red eyes and the swords at his side began to rattle in recognition.

            He smirked.

            Perhaps it was fate.


	36. In Law

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same universe as Ch. 16; Non-Massacre AU; implied Team as Family

            Mikoto Uchiha smiled as she sat across from Karin in the small apartment, one of Naruto’s chipped teacups sitting in front of her, a weak and slightly burnt green tea steaming from it. Sasuke’s laundry was peeking out of the edge of the hamper, and Naruto had forgot to clean up his dishes again. Sakura snored loudly on the couch, wiped out from a long shift at the hospital, a medical scroll hanging unrolled from her fingers.

            Karin was deeply aware she was being inspected thoroughly by the Uchiha matriarch. It grated on her nerves. She was a survivor, yes, and her name lost almost all meaning when over half her village was wiped out before Konoha’s aid had finally come. Yes, she’d arrived a refugee to this village, but she’d pulled herself up and become a respectable kunoichi. Why, her skill with tracking had even elevated her to special jounin status! And yes, she and her boyfriend lived together with his teammates in a small, kind of cramped apartment that never seemed to be clean and everything was second hand. So what? She had _nothing_ to prove to this woman.

            “So, you’re the girl that I’ve heard so much about,” Mikoto said, smiling. Her chakra was cool and calm, giving away nothing.

            Karin resisted the urge to fidget. “That’s the one. Special Jounin Karin, at your service.”

            She’d come a long way from being carried out of the rubble on Sasuke’s back.

            “Now, now, no need to be so formal,” Mikoto giggled, patting her on the hand. “We’re going to be family soon.”

            That wasn’t the impression Sasuke had given her when he’d stormed back from the Uchiha compound, frustrated and seething because his father had refused to allow them to marry. Sasuke said he’d spoken to his brother and Itachi was on their side, but Itachi wasn’t the head of the Uchiha clan yet. He wasn’t the one they needed to convince.

            “You can call me Karin,” she said, at last. “Everyone does, even what’s left of my people.”

            Mikoto nodded, the smile still present. “They are very loyal.”

            Karin agreed silently, and sipped her tea. Loyal, indeed, but no matter how much she saved from her mission pay, she couldn’t get them all out of the slums and orphanages.

            “It would be an honor to have such a loyal people added to our family,” Mikoto commented and, though it’s spoken without tone, Karin saw no deception in her.

            “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

            Mikoto giggled a little and her eyes are shrewd and cunning for a moment, nothing like a meek housewife’s. “Perhaps... It seems my husband has not considered _all_ the details. Sasuke gets his impatience from him, you know.”

            It was manipulative, it was sneaky, and it was _perfect_. She would get to marry her boyfriend, her people get out of the slums and the Uchiha clan would get an influx of new blood.

            Karin _liked_ her.

            “Tell me, are you and Sasuke planning to have children?” Mikoto asked, innocently.

            Karin choked on her tea.

            Later, she told Sasuke, “Your mother stopped by.”

            “Oh?” he asked. “What did she want?”

            “She wants grandchildren.”

 


	37. Inappropriate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon typical violence, mild language

            The fight is on from two sides as they’re slowly pushed from their positions.

            _He’s lost to you._

            She didn’t need to hide anymore – they’d spotted her and between Juugo’s berserker state and the enemy, she chose the lesser of two evils and charged, flipping over the enemy’s head and dropping into a ball as Juugo passed over her. She didn’t stick around for them to come back and hurried to Sasuke’s side.

            _He’s all swallowed up in hate._

            “Karin,” Sasuke says, his sword extended ahead of him. He doesn’t look at her, but that’s okay. He’s got bigger fish to fry, so to speak.

            _He wants to kill the Hokage, you know, and burn Konoha to the ground._

            The battle is on in earnest and she’s back to back with him now. Suigetsu snarls and absorbs another Suiton meant to nullify Sasuke’s lightning.

            _Give up. Sasuke isn’t your friend anymore._

            The next attack sends them hurtling through the wall and it is only the fact that Suigetsu’s body is wrapped around them in a cushioning shield of water that keeps them from being smashed to pieces from the impact. Sasuke’s arm curls around her waist as he pulls her close, shielding her further, and they land, Suigetsu reverting with a splash.

            _He **hates** you._

            Coughing and soaked to the bone, they get to their feet. The cold bites straight to her bones. Sasuke’s lips press against hers, blue and shaking, and it’s not the right time or the right place, but it’s him and that’s enough for both of them. And then they are all business again, heading back into the fray.

            “You’re full of shit, Madara,” Naruto says, watching them.


	38. Pinpoint

            Sasuke doesn’t know when he began to like her as something more than the girl who understood his pain or that girl with the useful ability. It’s all jumbled up in his head with all the things that she does that don’t bother him, the way they’re different and the same, and everything they know about each other. He’s not even really sure when he started to become attracted to her either.

            He thinks it might have been when she got those shorts and stockings. They made her legs look like they went on and _on_ , and the way those shorts hugged her body was positively a crime, he was sure of it.

            No, he decides, that wasn’t it. He wasn’t that shallow.

            Maybe it was that training session where he’d screwed up and she’d let him have it. There were no words that could accurately described how beautiful she’d looked when she swept his legs out from under him, pinned his arms beside his head and screamed her anger into his face, until she was out of breath, blushing and panting above him.

            He groans, rolling over. That couldn’t be it! It seemed to juvenile a reason, seeing perverted things where there weren’t.

            It had to be the first time he tasted her chakra, then.

            He remembers the way he’d hesitated on that first bite and then the way her chakra had sparked and cracked as it poured down his throat. It felt so good, so very good, and he could only dimly hear her moaning through the euphoria. After he let go, he could still feel her chakra inside him, tingling with warmth and something he couldn’t describe, but didn’t want to lose. She left and he could still feel her in every movement.

            He wants more, but it’s not enough. It’s never enough.

            And then he groans again.

            It’s not just one thing about Karin that he wants.

            He wants the _whole package._


	39. Wingman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wingman Suigetsu strikes again, mild language

            “No, absolutely not,” Sasuke said, crossing his arms.

            Suigetsu attempted to pout, which made him look like a sociopath. “Aw, come on! It’ll be fun! And we _need_ the money.”

            “We don’t need it, I told you.” Sasuke said, stubbornly. “We’re nearly to the next stop anyway. We can just trap some food and camp.”

            Suigetsu gave a long suffering sigh and slung an arm over his shoulder, attempting to steer him away. “Look, Sasuke. We’ve covered a ton of distance collecting your little crack squad and I know you’re in a hurry, but you’re forgetting the most important thing.”

            Sasuke glared at him, promising death and dismemberment if he didn’t remove that arm.

            “This is a perfect opportunity to woo, well, you know,” Suigetsu nodded in the direction of Karin. “Just imagine, you, the beach and her...”

            Sasuke didn’t look convinced.

            “...In a string bikini.”

            Sasuke cut off Suigetsu’s head, spots of color high on his cheeks.

            “Asshole,” Suigetsu said, reforming his head. “I was trying to help you out!”

            “By suggesting entering Karin in a swimsuit competition,” Sasuke growled. “How does that help me out?”

            “Motivation,” Suigetsu said smartly. “She’ll never be yours if you don’t get your ass in gear.”

            Karin looked up and called out to them. “Hey, what’s going on?”

            “Nothing,” Sasuke said, “Just discussing a detour.”

            She looked thoughtful. “I seem to remember a beach resort around here somewhere with an excellent sweet shop. Your brother likes sweets, right? We could check it out.”

            Juugo brightened up. “I’ve never been to the beach! Is it fun?”

            “You’d love it,” Suigetsu said, gleefully.

            Sasuke gave him a withering glare.

            Suigetsu mouthed “bikini” back at him.


	40. Xerox

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything is better with clones.

            The scientists poke and prod at him, checking the numbers tattooed on his wrist. He’s used to it. They ask him questions, simple things, like how is he feeling today, and he answers, always the same. Then they leave, disappearing through the door and he’s left alone in the bright, bright whiteness, in his white, white clothes. Sometimes, they bring food, sometimes clothes, and other times they try to gauge how many words he knows.

            One day, they do not come, but the door is open.

            He is afraid, but he’s curious and peeks out into a dark, ruined hallway. There is no one there. He wanders on, following arrows on the walls and words he almost recognizes until he finds another room.

            It’s like his, white and stainless, the door open wide, and he can see a single spot of color inside. It’s a girl with red hair and she turns to stare at him curiously. He holds out his hand and she stands, daintily walking over to take it.

            They walk in silence, following the arrows and picking their way through the wreckage, until they reach a door. It’s metal and covered in markings he doesn’t recognize. The girl at his side shrugs – she doesn’t know either. He hits the panel next to it until it breaks and spits electricity, the door opening with a grinding lurch to reveal a ruined room full of computers and monitors.

            Across from them, standing in a separate doorway, he sees a black-haired boy with dark eyes and a red-haired girl, both in white clothes. The girl is identical to the one beside him and he has no doubt that the boy’s face is a mirror to his own. He is not sure what to think of it and then, a pulse of something draws his gaze to the left, the other boy’s head turning shortly after.

            It’s a cylinder, bodies suspended in what looked like liquid. Again, he sees his face and it belongs to the boy in the cylinder with the battered dark clothes and ruinous wounds, clutching a girl like a lover. Her red hair floats around her face like a halo, but he knows it’s the same as the girl standing next to him.

            “Who are you?” he asks.

            “Does it matter?” the girl next to him asks.

            “It could,” the other boy says.

            “It might not,” the other girl counters.

            He looks up at the cylinder again. “We shouldn’t leave them here.”

            “Yeah,” the other boy – no, his twin says. Twin seems a more appropriate word. “It doesn’t seem right.”

            They spread out, looking for a switch, and when they find one, there’s a hiss as a hydraulic releases and another door opens.

            An army of them spreads out in cylinders before them, suspended naked in artificial sleep. The girl he’d found pressed close to him in fear, her fingers curling around his arm as her twin did the same to his.

            “Who would do this?” he asks.

            His twin has no answer.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also this is what started me writing Replica.


	41. Cosplay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College AU

            Sasuke frowns, looking at himself in the mirror. The costume is rather plain – a baggy, sleeveless shirt and baggy, shapeless pants. It comes with a wide, European sword and a rather plain fake leather belt. His reflection scowls back at him irritably.

            How on earth had Karin talked him into this?

            “Okay, I think I got it,” Karin says from her room.

            He turns as the door opens and stops, frozen in place as he sees her half of the paired costume set she’d suggested for the first time.

            Oh _no_.

            Oh _no, no, no._ She cannot _seriously_ be considering wearing _that_. Not to the convention!

            “So, what do you think?” Karin asks, and slowly spins in place.

            He watches, fascinated, at the way the black vinyl corset and panties hug her pale skin and then tries to remember that he must be strong and resist. The edge of the vinyl panties arcs over her hips in a gentle line and traces the curve of her buttocks and... he is so _utterly_ screwed. He is _not_ a pervert, _no_. The character he’s dressed as may certainly be, but he’s better than that.

            “You’re not wearing that, Karin,” Sasuke says stiffly. He suddenly loves his baggy costume.

            Karin glares, one vinyl-gloved hand resting on her hip, and as she shifts her weight to do that adorable thing she does when she’s mad, the outfit rubs against itself with a tiny squeak. She looks like an angry, sexy dominatrix, from one of those adult films Suigetsu’s always sneaking into the dorms and it’s really, really distracting him. “And _why_ not?” she asks huffily.

            “People will _see_ you!” Sasuke blurts out quickly, his face bright red.

            She gives him a strange look.

            “You don’t know how guys are at these things,” he explains quickly, shuffling a little to hide his discomfort. “They’re all creepy perverts! I don’t want them looking at you like... well... you know... Only I get to look at you like _that_!”

            Karin stares at him for a moment and then leans forward, giggling a little as she presses her forehead to his and caresses his cheek. “Oh, Sasuke... I love you, you idiot. I’m really not worried about them.”

            He’s about to tell her she should be, but his eyes flick down and oh, wow, he can see right down her corset. It takes a feat of gargantuan willpower to move his eyes back up to her face.

            “It comes with a coat that covers everything,” she says and then kisses his cheek sweetly. “Besides, I have _you_ to protect me.”

            He grumbles, blushing brightly.

            “Now, can you help me with the zipper?” she asks innocently from her doorway.

            All coherent thought remaining in Sasuke’s head ground to a screeching halt.


	42. Finding Meaning

            Sasuke is awake. He should be sleeping – they have a long way to go tomorrow and he needs his energy – but his mind is too busy, it’s cold and there’s a rock sticking uncomfortably into his back. It’s keeping him up.

            The fire crackles as Suigetsu stirs the embers and adds a little more wood. His face twists in a frown as he huddles closer to the warmth and he shoots a gaze towards the cave entrance where Juugo was keeping watch.

            Snow whirls just outside the entrance, barely visible in the darkness. Juugo watches it warily, eyes alert.

            Karin is sitting on the other side of the fire with her head on her knees, sound asleep and shivering a little under her cloak. She wasn’t used to extremes of temperatures, not like they were, but they’d been training all their lives – or, in Juugo’s case, living in the wild for years – and she had not.

            Sasuke sighs and stands, taking off his cloak as he walks around the fire and sits down next to Karin. He drapes his cloak over both of them and leans back against the much smoother cave wall. Karin slowly leans into Sasuke’s shoulder, smiling in her sleep.

            Suigetsu watches this, a distant, evaluating expression on his face.

            Silently, Sasuke dares him to object.

            But Suigetsu merely smiles a little, as if he knows a secret Sasuke does not, and continues tending the fire.

            All of them have such a strange bond, Sasuke thinks. Suigetsu is like Naruto in some ways, but in others he is worlds apart. He’s playful, not belligerent and may joke around, but he knows when to back off. Naruto knew none of these things. Juugo is a bit like Kakashi – well, not really, but there’s something about him that reminds Sasuke in a funny way of his former teacher and he can never really pin it down for sure. Juugo trusts him more, though, gives him the space he needs, and relies on him to keep his head on straight. Maybe that’s more like how Sakura used to be, he supposes and the thought of Juugo with Kakashi’s mask and that stupid dress Sakura used to wear makes him want to laugh and bleach his brain at the same time.

            And then there’s Karin, huddled next to him in her sleep, who is in so many ways like him and in so many ways his foil. He’s attached to her and it’s strange for him. He’d never thought he’d ever be attached to anyone like he is to her, or that anyone could possibly understand him, but she does and she doesn’t ever let him fall, no matter what. She considers him an equal, a man of respect, but not so much that she forgets that he’s human, too. Karin is reasonable and never impractical, always keeping her head about her. She never dwells on her past or mistakes and she won’t allow him to wallow in his mistakes either. And he lets her because she _knows_ – she’s been there, too, and he knows it better than anyone.

            She murmurs his name in her sleep, grumbling about something, and he pulls her a little closer to him.

            Bonds are a weakness, he thinks, but if they are true bonds, they are a strength as well.

 


	43. Thoughtful

            Karin has been at South Base for a year. She doesn’t quite remember what month it is, only that is now summer and the prisoners are unrulier than ever. She thinks, perhaps, that she is a year older now and it’s odd, but it bothers her just a little that she’s missed her birthday. At least, she supposes, she’s getting stronger.

            The current warden allows her to practice on the prisoners and she does. She gets to practice what she’s learned from Sasuke and they are kept in good enough shape to survive Orochimaru a little longer. Her duties as an assistant have also increased and she’s learning more and more about how to run the place. She waits and watches how the gossip stirs the prisoners. The effect of words on them is transformative and she thinks that she will learn to control this power, too.

            Safety is control, especially here.

            Orochimaru comes one day, Sasuke and Kabuto on his heels. Orochimaru praises her progress and Kabuto sneers. Then they are gone, off to experiment on the prisoners in the labs below.

            She does not miss them.

            Sasuke lingers and hands her a small package, before he, too, vanishes below.

            It is an old silver comb, tarnished in places and clearly used. On the back is an etching of the fan he wears so proudly. The paper it was wrapped in says only the number fourteen, the same as her age.

            She resists the urge to smile.

            He’s really a kind boy, in the end.


	44. First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Futurefic, AU, next generation spawn mentioned,

            “Sasuke, stop it,” Karin says firmly.

            He stops pacing, glares at her back while she continues to chop the vegetables for dinner. He can’t help it – he’s nervous. This is _big._ It’s really the first time he’s ever done anything like this.

            ...Well, not really, but his students were an entirely different matter – they, at least, were already starting puberty when he’d met them. And his older son had his mother’s sense about people’s chakra and could be trusted to take care of himself as far as girlfriends went. The younger of the two sons... well, those teammates of his scared off every girl in range, so it wasn’t much of an issue.

            This... was entirely different.

            Boys were different.

            His baby girls were dating boys and _they were bringing them to dinner._

            “Karin, what if they’re crazy?” he asks.

            Karin sighs. “If they are, I’ll know.”

            “But, but what if they’re bad and they’re really good at hiding it?”

            “Sasuke, if you don’t stop worrying, I will have to sedate you. Don’t make me go there, because I will and you damn well know it. The twins will never forgive me if you pass out on your plate in front of their dates.”

            She pointed to her head. “Besides, my senses are never wrong.”


	45. Illusion

            “I wonder what he sees in you,” he says, contemplatively, circling her like prey.

            Karin trembles but does not move.

            The world is all wrong, chakra everywhere, covering everything in a sense of disorientation. It’s nauseating. It makes her want to vomit, but she doesn’t move.

            It’s a genjutsu and genjutsu hide the truth. If she moves, she could die.

            The monster in the black cloak with the red clouds trails phantom fingers through her hair, mocking and playful. “Is it something in your face?” he asks, slipping behind her. “Or is it an ability, something in your blood, that he covets?”

            She will not move. She must not, even though it revolts her and she hates having her weaknesses and insecurities so blatantly put on display.

            He stares at her with those red, Sharingan eyes through long lashes, and she thinks she’ll be ill because if it wasn’t for those lines on his face and his long hair, he would look exactly like Sasuke.

            But, then again, they are brothers.

            “Could it be... this?” the monster asks and touches her abdomen with a single finger, the ring gleaming.

            There is a roar of rage and a sword covered in lightning impales the black-cloaked figure, which scatters into crows and she can feel the genjutsu break, crashing down around them.

            Sasuke, panting and sweating, holds the sword in shaking hands.

            Karin releases the hand sign for the genjutsu at last and checks her stopwatch. “A minute and five seconds, Sasuke. You’re dead.”

            “Shit,” he hisses and stands up straight. “Karin, do it again.”

            She frowns, resetting the stopwatch, and prepares to make the seal again. “Only if you promise you’ll hurry. He creeps me the hell out.”

            Sasuke looks her straight in the eyes and nods once, firmly.

            She makes the seal and Itachi reappears.

            Sasuke will do better this time, she knows it.

 


	46. Embroider

            The stitches are small and precise, the black thread stark against the white and red. He doesn’t like doing this sort of thing, not really, but he knows how. Sewing is a useful field skill. After all, one can’t always get new clothes when the old ones are damaged in a fight and sometimes deeper wounds need to be sewn shut. He’s done that more than once and it leaves scars.

            It used to be his mother and his aunts that would do this, or sometimes they’d use the clan tailor a few streets over when things got too busy.

            But that was a long time ago.

            He adds them to his clothes himself now, working a little here and there between shifts on the watch and when he must stop to heal himself. Bedrest is boring and it passes the time. It’s something to do and it gives him time to think.

            Karin mumbles something in her sleep, rolling over on the futon. She is wearing one of his favorite shirts, her clothes and supplies all having gotten soaked during the fight with Killer Bee and her shirt destroyed by the flame. He’d tried to give her another, but she’d already taken the soft dark blue shirt and run to the other room to change into it.

            It hung on her frame, too large and strangely attractive. She looked like a civilian’s girlfriend wearing her boyfriend’s too-large shirt like a dress and he knew that under the long sleeves his teeth marks covered her arms and shoulders.

            He smiles a little, finishing another stitch to the fan.

            Sasuke thinks her shirt will look better with it added. But, for now, she can keep stealing his shirts.

            One day, though, he’ll have added it to all her shirts.


	47. Treasure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pirate AU, mild language

            Suigetsu sighed.

            Sasuke glared at him.

            “Look,” Suigetsu said, “You’re going to have to admit it eventually.”

            “It’s not true,” Sasuke said, stubbornly. He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. This was so stupid.

            “You’re a pirate.”

            “You’re deluded.”

            Suigetsu waved his hand in an arc. “You broke us out of prison, stole a ship and are running out of a known pirate port.”

            “That does not make me a pirate,” Sasuke said, bluntly. He was heavily considering bloodying the other boy’s nose, but he needed Suigetsu uninjured if he wanted to take on Itachi. “I’m just bringing a criminal to justice.”

            Suigetsu snorted.

            Sasuke huffed and turned away, scanning the deck. His eyes caught the hem of a dress and he shifted a little for a better look – Karin was on deck. She was a sight for sore eyes. The fire at the Eight Bees Inn was very bad and she’d been severely hurt. He was scared she wasn’t going to make it, but she did and he was relieved. He _couldn’t_ do this without her.

            Slowly, he started to drift towards her.

            “You’re a pirate, all right,” Suigetsu said, leering. “You’re completely and utterly obsessed with treasure.”

            Sasuke threw a bucket at him. “I am not!”

            “Not all treasure is silver and gold!” the other boy crowed, laughing as he scrambled up into the rigging.

            Karin called out to him and he immediately turned, walking towards her at a quick pace. She smiled as he approached her, twirling her stolen parasol in her white fingers, and he could not look away. She giggled and he could see the knives hidden in her corset, disguised as whalebone. A devious, lovely little minx, she is.

            ...Shit. Sasuke groaned inwardly. The bastard was right – he was obsessed.


	48. Lackadaisical

            It’s over.

            There’s nothing left to avenge.

            Sasuke thinks he should be relieved, but instead he feels tired. He rubs his hands over his face and stares out the window at the sea.

            He and his team have been shacked up in this little resort town for a few days now, having called in a favor to the hotel’s owner – a brother of one of the prisoners he’d had freed. It’s quiet here and no one has figured out they’re here yet.

            He thinks that maybe he should be thinking of where they’ll go next and what they’ll do. They can’t stay wandering forever. But he’s exhausted to the point of numbness and he can’t bring himself to think of the future.

            Karin enters the room, humming to herself and kicks off her sandals. She’s wearing a swimsuit and a wrap, her hair put up in a high ponytail, and it’s weird how much she looks like she’s just here on vacation.

            “Where are the others?” he asks.

            She sits down on the edge of the bed – it’s high and western, and bounces entirely too much – and drops her bag next to her. “Suigetsu’s teaching Juugo to surf, apparently. It’s like a disaster in slow motion.”

            He snorts, crossing his arms and leaning forward against the back of the chair.

            “You should come out with us, you know,” she says, talking out a box from her bag. She opens it and he can smell the chocolate. “It’s a pretty place.”

            “We’re not going to stay forever,” he reminds her and slowly stands up, stretching a little.

            She nods, popping a chocolate in her mouth.

            “Move over,” he says, sitting next to her, and then leans back. Above him, the ceiling fan spins lazily, clicking a little, and he is so tired.

            Karin changes positions. She’s lying next to him now, facing the opposite way, her bare feet wiggling in the air. “So, what’s next?”

            “I don’t know,” he says.

            She moves, the bed wobbling jarringly, and then she is looking down at him. Slowly, his eyes trace over the barely visible bite scars on her shoulders and arms – he is responsible for so many of them.

            “You’re something else, you know,” she says bluntly, brushing his hair off his face. She leans down and kisses him, and the kiss tastes of bitter chocolate. It lingers on his lips and he is not sure what to think. He expected it to taste different.

            “Isn’t chocolate supposed to be sweet?” he asks.

            She taps his lips with a fingertip. “It can be. But this type is different.”

            He considers.

            “I’d like another taste, please.”


	49. Meal

            The first time they share a meal together it is the hardtack and rations of traveling ninja. Sasuke gave her half of his meal, even though they were running low on supplies already. It was bland and tasteless protein but Karin was so hungry she didn’t care. She wolfed it down and then Sasuke gave her most of the rest of his meal too.

            She’d broken down in tears for her after that, because it was then it really, really hit home what had happened.

            The second time is during her training with him. Exhausted and sweating, her body was pushed to the brink and she’d just eaten mechanically. If she had thought, the pain would return and she would never get back into rhythm.

            They don’t see each other for a while.

            When they meet again, they share a meal. Their conversation is stilted and choppy, mostly things of little importance.

            Under the tray, she slips him files that will help in his quest. She knows where all the strong ones are kept.

            And now, many, many meals later, they sit next to each other and he puts his hand on hers, his fingers weaving between her own.

            They’ve come a long way, Karin thinks.

            She wonders where they will go from here.


	50. Confession

            Karin thinks she could leave him.

            They’ve been together a long time, she and Sasuke. They trust each other and he’s so comfortable to be around, because he _gets_ her pain and he’s been there. Some days, it’s bad for her and she’ll cling to him tightly until she’s grounded again. Other days, he’s the one who comes to her silently and does not let go until all that despair is swallowed up by the beat of her heart in her chest. She always gives him his space when he wants it and he knows when she’s playing around in private. He’s the only one who knows what she’s like when she’s in private.

            It’s not love, not like people say it is in books, but they do care for each other more than most.

            Somewhere along the line something between them has changed, though.

            Karin isn’t sure what it is or when it was that it changed, only that it _hurts_ and she needs more than just fleeting touches or his body unconsciously holding hers close in his sleep. It is a strange, maddening thing and she hates it because she doesn’t want to hurt him but it hurts so _bad_. She’s been trying to tell him for a while now, but it comes out garbled and she can see he just doesn’t understand what she’s trying to get at.

            Perhaps this is love, she thinks, and wonders why it’s not like fairy tales make it out to be. Wasn’t love supposed to be instant, magical and beautiful?

            Karin knows that’s a lie. Love is dangerous and cruel. Love can destroy you, burn you up like tinder, and make a madman of you. Sasuke knows this, too, better than anyone.

            She curses herself for being such a girl and gets up to leave. She needs to go somewhere, get some space, and clear her head.

            Sasuke’s hand catches hers and she turns.

            “Karin,” he says quietly. “Stay with me.”

            She should go, but her body slides down, back into the seat of its own accord, and he pulls her close.

            “How long should I stay?” she asks.

            “Forever,” he replies and means it.

            It is not a confession, not like those in storybooks, but theirs has never been a one of those stories.

            “Please, say it,” she breathes. “I need to hear it.”

            “Not yet,” he whispers and she can feel him shaking beneath his clothes with anxiety. He’s right to be afraid. “But soon. Please, Karin, just wait a little longer.”

            “I love you,” she says. “It’s scary.”

            “I know,” he whispers and he presses his lips gently against her head as his fingers tangle in her hair. “I’m scared, too.”

 


	51. The Loving Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zombie Apocalypse AU

            For victims of a zombie apocalypse, they weren't doing too bad, all things considered. Sure, Sasuke would lose his arm from time to time and Karin's head occasionally came loose when they kissed, but the great thing about not having a pulse was these things could be fixed with the judicious application of duct tape. Really, their only worries were finding more brains and those pesky zombie hunters.  
  
            "Brains!" Karin said, gleefully pointing a finger at a living person who'd finally decided to risk the run across the street.  
  
            Sasuke shuffled in their direction and he almost let out an amused 'brains' when the person tripped on a cafe's chair and crashed face first into a table.  
  
            Karin and Sasuke stared at the unconscious man a moment and then shuffled forward, standing the chairs back up. They sat, dusting some rubble off the table, and unfolded some napkins. Somewhere in the back of Sasuke's rotting mind, he remembered that this was kind of what a date was like.  
  
            He gave her a bloody grin and she grinned back, her head tilting unnaturally.


	52. Prometheus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Frankenstein Monster AU

            “I loathe you,” Sasuke said, scrabbling at his stitches with the blunt nails of his hands – hands that had once belonged to cousin Shisui. “What madness could have possessed you to do such a thing, brother?”

            Itachi sighed, pulling his brother’s hands away and binding them. “Stop this, Sasuke. You’ll tear your stitches.”

            “Perhaps that’s what I desire!” Sasuke snapped, kicking at him with a stocking-clad foot. “Look at me, brother! You’ve made me a monster!”

            It was true, Sasuke was no longer as he once was. His skin was still the sallow color of the grave and the sutures from the operations that returned his life would leave his face, chest and arms scarred. In particular, the incisions on Sasuke’s face were the most vulgar, ruining his previous beauty. But it was the horrible knowledge of what murderous lengths Itachi had gone to in order to restore his life that had left the most ruinous wounds on the poor youth.

            But, Itachi thought, he was _alive_ and that was what mattered.

            Sasuke cried out in rage and attempted to attack him, but the bindings stopped him short. He retreated, weeping and curling in on himself, and ignored all entreaties directed at him.

            This course of events repeated itself for the next several weeks, even after Sasuke’s incisions had finally healed. Sasuke would wake in a foul rage and work himself into fits, until he would collapse in exhausted sorrow.

            It worried Itachi, that it did, for he was growing more ill as time passed and, soon, there would be no one left to care for his dear brother.

            One day, Sasuke was calm, his face strange.

            “You have made me thus,” Sasuke said, gravely. “And I loathe you for it. Know this, I will pursue you, my creator, and wreak my vengeance upon you for the loneliness you have cursed me with.”

            Itachi sighed and stood. “You are right to despise me so, brother, for my crimes are beyond forgiveness. But you are wrong in one matter – you are _not_ alone.”

            Horror dawned on the scarred, youthful face and it was unbearable. “Brother, what have you done?”

            Itachi pulled back the curtain behind him, revealing a red-headed young maiden, the sutures in her torso still healing and her eyes wide, almost blind with terror. It had been a hasty search, conducted in secret, but he remembered the girl his brother had once been fond of as a boy and it was no small feat to arrange an accident by which he might obtain her. Repairing and reviving her corpse was little trouble, now that he knew the secret.

            “Karin!” Sasuke cried and then rounded on Itachi, grabbing him by the collar of his waistcoat. “You – you _monster!_ You brought this fate upon her as well, she who’s only crime was to care for me?”

            “I am ill, my brother,” Itachi said, sadly. “Death brushes its fingers upon my neck even now and, soon, I shall succumb. She is my gift to you, a creation of your equal, and it is my hope that together you shall banish your loneliness.”

            “You’re mad,” Sasuke whispered, suddenly drawing back, his eyes alight with a strange recognition. He then moved to the girl, gently gathering her into his arms, and started for the door. And yet, his gaze did not leave Itachi, as though the elder Uchiha were some sort of dangerous predator liable to strike without warning.

            He watched them leave.

            “Everything I did is for your happiness, brother,” Itachi said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.

            One day, Sasuke will thank him.

            He smiled.

 


	53. Du Riechst So Gut (You smell so good)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the werewolf au

            Sasuke watched the setting sun with a resigned sort of dread. Soon, the moon would rise and he’d once more be a victim to it.

            “You’ll get used to it,” Juugo had told him apologetically after he’d been bitten. Juugo would know – he’d endured the transformations longer than anyone.

            It was true, more or less. Sasuke had become used to it as the months passed, but some part of him could not accept what the moon transformed him into.

            From the window, he watched as a girl in white moved out of the tree line, her red hair askew and her chest heaving as she fought to regain her breath. His eyes widened as he saw her face and caught the barest whiff of her scent – it was that girl!

            She was noble-born as he once was, her scent spicy and rich, and he’d spent the better part of a day tracking her back to her home. When the sun set and the moon rose, he was able to slip inside, masking his presence behind the cursed abilities of his other form, and get close enough to speak with her a while. She was just as fiery and exciting as her scent had promised and he quite enjoyed her company. Had he still possessed access to his family’s estate, there was no doubt that he would have offered his hand to her, such was his affection for her. Then, the chaperones had descended upon them and his glamour was undone. But, he had left her with a stolen kiss and the taste of her had lingered the rest of that night. It was more than a beast such as what he’d become could hope for.

            His mood afterwards was so drastically improved that Suigetsu had the gall to suggest he’d been replaced by a changeling. A good thrashing had put the other boy in his place and Sasuke resolved to quietly sneak back to that manor house for another visit to the interesting girl. He had planned to convince her to sneak away with him.

            But no, she had come to him instead.

            Sasuke hurried to the door, unlatching it and stepping outside.

            “You!” she shouted, leaping at him. She hit him hard, sprawling him on his back. “I know you! You were the one at the party, the wolf!”

            He bit back the urge to growl, her scent stronger and with a familiar edge to it, one that only their kind had. On her breast, he could see the livid marks where his teeth had broken her skin and he knew she was right to blame him – he had cursed her.

            “What have you done to me?” the girl cried, threading her fingers in her unkempt red hair as she pressed her hands over her ears. “I feel like I’m losing my mind!”

            “You’ll get used to it,” he said, instantly regretting it when she let out a wail, and he slowly wriggled out from under her. “Come inside, the moon will rise soon and you must meet the others before then.”

            She sobbed, looking at him from reddened, puffy eyes. “Why me?”

            Sasuke closed his eyes, her scent rolling over him. “Even monsters can long for the embrace of another.”

 


	54. Tasty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the vampire AU

            Karin would later point out that her first meeting with Sasuke probably hadn’t been the best as first impressions go. In fact, it was downright embarrassing for both of them. She’d come back from cram school late and, exhausted, flopped down in her bed to sleep, only to be awoken by a noise in her room and realize that someone was standing over her. She’d screamed and smashed her alarm clock into the side of his head, before scrambling to the other side of the room and turning on the lights. What greeted her was a slightly angry and very bruised teen with fangs who insisted she was in his house and had no business being there.

            As it turned out, it was a gigantic misunderstanding.

            The Uchiha family had once owned the property and, when the last owner had passed on, the house had been sold to Karin’s grandmother, who in turn left it to Karin. Unfortunately, it meant that she’d also inherited Sasuke, a kyuuketsuki, a fact her grandmother had never mentioned in all the years before the car accident.

            It didn’t make it any easier for either of them. Sasuke was just as stubborn as she was and they butted heads more often than not. And then there was the fact that he needed human blood on a regular basis.

            The first time she’d fed him, it was because he’d passed out. The stubborn idiot had apparently been surviving off a steady diet of pig’s blood purchased from the butcher’s, a diet that had been abruptly terminated by the car accident that killed her family and grandmother. She’d had to cut her finger to wake him and he’d surprised her with the speed at which he’d woke and latched on to her finger. Her heart had immediately proceeded to go all doki-doki and she resolved to head to the butcher first thing.

            The second time she’d fed him was at school. He’d followed her in an attempt to explain himself, ended up scaring her half to death in the library – honestly, what sort of vampire could walk around in daylight-, and then sheepishly admitted that a little bit of her human blood would help him more than pig’s blood ever could. She offered him an arm, uncertainly, and was surprised to discover it wasn’t as bad as she had feared. There was hardly any pain, just a little pinprick, and it was really more like a kiss, leaving her feeling rather good all day.

            After that, it became sort of a regular occurrence. He’d assured her that he couldn’t infect her, since he wasn’t that kind of vampire, and he wasn’t taking all that much from her anyway, just a little here and there to supplement the pig’s blood.

            They still argued – they’d had roaring good fights over his possessiveness when he’d insisted upon checking up on her study groups and when she incorrectly thought he was eyeing another girl as a snack – but, overall, they got along well enough. The last year or so of living with him had been pretty decent even if he was a stubborn prick half the time. Unfortunately, the sexual tension between the two of them was getting unbearable, especially since it was clear she was getting a lot of pleasure out of his routine feedings on her.

            Sasuke looked at her and blushed as he noticed the low cut of her dress, looking away quickly.

            Karin sighed, stood up and said, “To hell with it.”

            He had two seconds to look surprised before he was on his back on the floor with her on top of him.

            Hey, she _was_ only human.

 


	55. Invite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the non-ninja AU

            “It’s a costume party,” Sasuke said, frowning at the invitation.

            Karin, currently sprawled across his lap, hummed and flipped another page in her book. “Sounds like fun.”

            “Are you kidding?” Sasuke asked, incredulously. “Naruto is going to get drunk in the first hour, try to pick a fight with me and manage to somehow get Sakura mad at him by opening his big mouth. Kiba will spike the punch, Hinata will spend the entire time trying to melt into the wall – she’s still never quite gotten over everyone spying on that date she took Naruto on in junior high school – Shino’s going to take her home because he hates these parties anyway...”

            “You and your pals spied on that girl’s date?” Karin asked, looking over her shoulder at him. “Classy, Sasuke, real classy.”

            Sasuke rolled his eyes. “We were what, thirteen, fourteen? That was ages ago. Anyway, point is that this party is probably going to end in a big drunken bust.”

            “You don’t know that for sure,” Karin said and rolled over so that she was on her back, looking at him. “It could be fun.”

            He resisted the urge to groan. “You’ve never seen Lee under the influence.”

            “If it’s anything like Juugo, I think I can manage,” Karin said, resting her book on her chest. “Besides, you’re always complaining that you don’t get to see your old friends as often now that we’ve moved.”

            Sasuke sighed, flipping over the invitation in his hands. “I know.”

            “So... costumes,” Karin said, smiling. “What shall we go as?”

            He shrugged. “I’d rather stay home.”

            Karin giggled, blushing a little as she sat up and purred in his ear, “Ooh, a private costume party, then, Mr. Uchiha? What would your wife think?”

            “Mrs. Uchiha apparently approves,” Sasuke quipped, “since she is the one suggesting it.”

            “If Mr. Uchiha deigns to spend a few hours with his friends in a ridiculous costume, then Mrs. Uchiha promises he will have his private party afterwards,” Karin smiled, shifting so that she straddled his lap. “If he’s well-behaved, then he gets a special treat, too.”

            Sasuke arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

            “So, costume suggestions?” Karin grinned.

 


	56. New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same verse as chapters 16 and 26, non-massacre AU; Itachi plz

            Fugaku Uchiha stares at the infant in his arms as if it was a bomb, liable to go off at the slightest movement. The face is small and red, unbelievably fragile, a bit of dark hair already curling out from under the blue beanie. It is so strange to think that once again he holds the future of the Uchiha in his own two hands.

            He is a grandfather and revelation floors him in its magnitude.

            Mikoto smiles as she enters, waving him over, and Fugaku drifts towards her. She holds up a camera and stifles a giggle, pointing into the next room.

            Sasuke is sleeping, curled around his wife, Karin. He is snoring lightly, his arm threaded under hers so that their fingers are entwined. They are the picture of contentment, even as exhausted as they both must be.

            It’s hard to look at, because Fugaku sometimes still sees Sasuke as a little boy, though he hasn’t been one for years now. Now as he holds his grandson, he thinks it couldn’t be clearer how much Sasuke’s grown up.

            Karin, as much as he is reluctant to admit it, is the best thing that ever happened to Sasuke. Her level-headedness was just what Sasuke needed to reign in that temper of his.

            “Father, I want to see,” Itachi says, hovering nearby. His tone is almost whining or pleading, but Itachi never whines or pleads about anything.

            “Shh, Itachi,” he says, staring at the infant and for a moment, it’s Sasuke in his hands and Itachi is a child again, the weary lines on his face gone. But that was near nineteen years ago and his sons are both grown men. “Don’t wake him.”

            This time there is no mistaking it – Itachi’s lips curve into a noticeable pout. “I’m not five, father.”

            Fugaku gives him a strange look, but assents, the infant squirming as he places him in Itachi’s arms. “Like this,” he says, correcting the position of his eldest son’s hands so the baby is properly supported.

            Itachi looks down at the infant, transfixed, and smiles genuinely for the first time in so very, very long.

            Mikoto is already snapping a picture, resisting the urge to squeal.

            “I’m your Uncle Itachi,” Itachi whispers. His smile turns mischievous. “I’m going to spoil you rotten.”

 


	57. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Futurefic, AU

            “There he is, that traitor!”

            “I don’t understand why the Hokage pardoned him.”

            Sasuke clenched his jaw and tried to focus on the fruit stand in front of him, one of the few places in the market that would sell to him. If he turned and glared at them like he wanted to, he’d be giving them what they wanted. He didn’t want to give them the satisfaction.

            “Did you hear? They’ve given him a genin squad.”

            “Those poor children – if I was a parent of one of them, I’d request that the Hokage transfer them immediately!”

            The fruit stand owner gave him a thin, wobbly smile as Sasuke paid and made his way to the next stand.

            “I’ve heard they’re all orphans.”

            “Small wonder! No sane parent would allow their kids on a squad with that man.”

            “At least this way, they won’t have anyone to miss them.”

            Sasuke clenched his fists and told himself to calm down, that it wasn’t worth it. They were just trying to get a rise out of him so they could feel vindicated when they complained about him to Naruto.

            The vendor in front of him, an Akimichi, gave him a pleasant smile as he helped him bag his purchases and asked, “Is your wife well, Uchiha-san?”

            “She’s okay,” he replied, grateful for the distraction. “Busy with the baby and medical classes, you know how it is. Sakura says she’ll make a great medic.”

            “That’s good to hear,” the Akimichi said, and put an extra package of rice in the bag. Sasuke started to say something, but portly man shook his head and swatted his hand away, whispering, “It’s not charity. You’re a good customer, that’s all.”

            Sasuke gave him a tired, grateful smile as he took the bag. The gesture was not unappreciated.

            “I’m just glad my child won’t be in class with that traitor and his red-headed harlot’s little monster.”

            Sasuke’s grip on the bag tightened, the marketplace going eerily quiet as it was suddenly doused in the chill aura of his fury.

            “Sasuke! There you are,” Karin’s voice called out from behind him. He turned to see her, jogging up through the crowd with the baby, and he smiled, relaxing immediately.

            “I’m sorry I’m late – Rinji needed a diaper change,” she said, adjusting the baby carrier harness a little. She slipped her hand into his, squeezing it reassuringly. “You okay?”

            “Yeah,” he said, “Same old problem.”

            Karin gave him a worried look and he just smiled, cupping her face with a hand as he leaned in to kiss her.

            As long as they were together, there was nothing they couldn’t face.

 


	58. Acquired

            The town where they’d stopped to camp was little more than a burnt out shell, ruined buildings half-standing in the gloom like skeletons. Almost a year previously, it had been a thriving trade village, and now it was little more than fire-blasted rubble. The four members of team Taka now huddled around a small campfire in the still-standing corner of a shop, the remains of the second floor serving as a temporary roof. They ate in silence, morbidly aware of how low their supplies were running as they choked down the thin soup of boiled fish and instant ramen.

            “What happened here?” Juugo asked.

            Sasuke frowned, stirring the broth with his chopsticks. He had his suspicions and, judging by the way Karin had paled and stopped eating, she suspected the same. He placed his hand on hers, shaking it a little, to bring her back. “Eat, you need your strength.”

            She blinked, as if suddenly back in the real world, and nodded, mechanically finishing her meal.

            A sudden noise had all of them on their feet, weapons in hand.

            “Show yourself!” Suigetsu shouted into the darkness.

            There was a long silence and then a small thin face, barely visible in the firelight, peered out from behind another ruined wall.

            Suigetsu cursed. “It’s some brat.”

            The thin child wandered closer, like a pale dirty ghost, eyes drifting longingly towards the pot of soup on the fire.

            Karin’s hand pressed on Sasuke’s shoulder, her face drawn and pleading.

            “Shoo!” Suigetsu said, waving his sword. “Shoo!”

            “Suigetsu,” Sasuke said warningly.

            “But Sasuke, we don’t have enough food,” Suigetsu whispered.

            Sasuke stepped around the fire, filled his bowl with broth, and walked towards the child, holding out the bowl. He put it down on a slab of rubble and went back to the fire.

            Karin gave him a grateful, watery smile.

            The child darted forward, snatching it and scampering away to slurp it down noisily.

            In the morning, when they left the ruined village, no one mentioned the filthy, wraithlike child that had latched onto to Sasuke’s hand or the small smile on Karin’s lips.

 


	59. In Plain Sight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Majorly AU

            “I can’t believe we got escort duty for some girl!” Naruto moaned, “This is going to suck! Knowing our luck, we’ll get some stuck-up princess and she’ll _instantly_ fall for Mr. Constipation over there...”

            Sasuke glared at his teammate, eye twitching. He could stand the rudeness, since he wasn’t very polite either, but that nickname seriously needed to die in a fire.

            “Don’t call Sasuke that!” Sakura said, loudly, cracking her knuckles.

            “...Then we’ll have to spend the _whole_ mission listening to her moan over him,” Naruto continued. He turned around, striking a stupid, girly pose and making an anguished face. “Oh, _Sasuke_ , save me!”

            Sasuke resisted the urge to smirk, rolling his eyes as Sakura gave Naruto a whack on the head as they approached the elegant estate where their client lived. For a border town in the middle of miles of rice fields, this was pretty upscale.

            Kakashi shook his head in amusement, waving to the guards and showing them their mission papers. The guards gave the three children speculative looks and Kakashi proudly stated that these “cute little genin” were the same “cute little genin” that took down the missing-nin Zabuza.

            Sasuke didn’t think it prudent to mention that they’d spent most of that fight getting their asses handed to them and Zabuza had died from his wounds after his suicide charge. The fact that the three of them were still alive was impressive, though, as Kakashi was fond of saying, and a testament to their sheer collective dumb luck. Small wonder, then, that Kakashi wanted them to squeeze in a few more missions before he’d hand over the paperwork for the chuunin exams.

            The guards nodded at last, letting them pass into the estate courtyard, where they were greeted by the chamberlain and a servant girl with fiery red hair, who glared at them suspiciously. The chamberlain led them inside, directing them to remove their shoes, and sit in the main chamber while he informed the lady of the house of their arrival. The servant girl placed down cushions for them and then retreated to the corner to wait for further orders.

            Shortly, the chamberlain returned, followed by a teenaged girl dressed in fine silken shrine maiden’s robes, her red hair piled up on her head with an array of gold combs. A delicate-looking necklace of magatama beads and a copper mirror hung around her neck. Had it not been for the finery, Sasuke supposed this girl could well be the older sister of the servant girl they’d seen.

            She sat down delicately on a raised platform, her eyes gliding over them with a detached air. “They look a little young,” she said.

            “I assure you, milady, my students are quite skilled,” Kakashi replied smoothly.

            “Is that so?” the teenaged girl hummed, tilting her head a little. “I wonder... could they really protect the Sacred Eyes?”

            Sasuke frowned, narrowing his eyes at her. There was something really, really odd about this. He needed to look underneath the underneath, as Kakashi was fond of saying.

            “Perhaps milady should like to test us?” Kakashi suggested. Behind him, Sakura glared at Naruto, indicating that he should keep his mouth shut.

            “Perhaps,” the teenager smiled coyly. She turned, looking at each of the three genin carefully and then smiled. “You, children, how shall you protect me?”

            Naruto started to protest the seeming lack of logic in the question, Sakura already opening her mouth to shush him.

            “We won’t,” Sasuke blurted out quickly, cutting them off.

            Sakura openly stared at him, slack-jawed, Kakashi raised an eyebrow, and Naruto squawked indignantly.

            “We’re not protecting you,” Sasuke explained, pointing at the teen. He turned, pointing at the servant girl, and finished, “We’re protecting _her_.”

            The servant girl blushed, fumbling with her glasses, and puffed out her cheeks in a huff.

            “Very astute of you,” the teenager said, chuckling. “Not many would suspect the Eyes to be dressed as a servant, much less of using a body double. How did you notice, boy?”

            Sasuke bowed his head a little, embarrassed. “Most girls blush and act stupid around me – she didn’t. Your face shape and hair color are also very, very similar, and then you didn’t refer to yourself directly when you asked if we could do our job.”

            Naruto grinned, obviously tempted to tease a now-visibly sulking Sakura.

            The teenager smiled absently, leaning back as she looked at Kakashi once more. “Have you informed your students of the contract?”

            “The Hokage considered it prudent to maintain secrecy until our arrival,” Kakashi said smoothly.

            “It is just as well. This is a delicate matter,” the teenager said, standing. “Karin, please go fetch your things and bring them to the courtyard. The chamberlain will assist you.”

            The girl disguised as a servant stiffened and huffed again, allowing herself to be herded out the room by the chamberlain.

            “Now that she is gone, we can discuss the situation,” the teenage girl said, sitting down again. “As you know, this farmland and village sit on the river between Fire and Rice Country. Recently, we have been getting rumors of a new power in Rice Country, one that’s amassing an army of ninja. Normally, we would pay them no heed, but some of the local farmers have begun vanishing, their crops stolen.”

            “An army needs to eat,” Kakashi said, posture stiffening.

            “Approximately two weeks ago, we were approached by a man from this new ninja group – he’d heard of the Sacred Eyes and their ability to discern chakra,” the teenager continued. “He asked us to hand over the Sacred Eyes, but we refused. I may not have the same level of aptitude as my younger sister, but even I could sense his intent was malicious. He said that he would give us some time to think it over before they came across the border and then left. I contacted your people shortly thereafter.”

            The three genin exchanged wary glances.

            “I’ve hired you to escort Karin back to Konoha,” the teenaged girl said solemnly as her eyes began to water. “I’ve told her I’m sending her there with you so she can describe the chakra of the enemy ninja to your Hokage and request military aid. She doesn’t trust my motivations completely, but she’ll go.”

            Naruto chewed his lip a moment. “So wait, you’re not requesting aid, then? What the hell do you need us to escort her for then?”

            Sasuke wanted to hit him for being so utterly naïve. “Shut up, Naruto,” he growled.

            “I don’t get it,” Naruto said, genuinely lost. “Aren’t they going to come right through here?”

            “Naruto, _shut up_!” Sasuke spat, his eyes stinging.

            Sakura actually jumped at his voice, noticeably alarmed.

            “But... they’re... that’s crazy!” Naruto exclaimed, standing.

            “Before they found about the power of the Sacred Eyes, they might have just taken our crops, killed a few people and left,” the teenaged girl said sadly. “Now, they watch us with hungry eyes and, any day now, they shall descend upon us in order to obtain that power. We are a doomed village.”

            She paused, smiling thinly. “But we can save one person, the one person who can point out our murderers to your forces, and that is Karin.”

            Sasuke bit his lip, clenching his hands. This was almost like it was back then...

            “One day, she will understand,” the teenager said wistfully. “And one day, she may even forgive me. Please, take care of her.”

            Kakashi bowed formally, the three genin stiffly following suit as he said, “We will, milady.”

            Then Kakashi turned, taking a deep breath and said, “Naruto, Sakura, get the girl’s gear and pack it down. We’re going to be traveling light and fast.”

            The two of them reluctantly nodded, Sakura wiping tears off her face and taking a couple of steadying breaths as she did so.

            Kakashi nodded and then looked at Sasuke, unusually solemn. “Sasuke, I am making her your responsibility. When she figures out what just happened, she will need someone who... _understands_. I’m counting on you. Keep it together.”

            Sasuke nodded and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, ignoring the spots of moisture that lingered there.

 


	60. Between Us Girls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Modern Non Ninja AU; Sakura is protective

            “So, now that we’re alone,” Sakura giggled, looking at their reflections in the bathroom mirror, “Tell me – how’d you two meet?”

            Karin blushed, sputtering a little, and nearly fumbled her bag into the sink. So, that was why Sakura had asked her to accompany her to the bathroom – the dreaded interrogation. “Um, it really wasn’t anything special...”

            “No, come on, let’s hear it,” Sakura said, still giggling a bit. “I bet it was cute.”

            It hadn’t been cute at all.

            The first time Karin had seen Sasuke was when the case worker brought her to the support group and, at the time, she’d burst out into uncontrolled sobbing halfway through introducing herself. He’d crouched in front of her, introduced himself, and proceeded to calmly tell her his brother had killed everyone in his family, every one of them members of the police, as part of a test of loyalty for a gang he was in. One by one, the rest of the group introduced themselves, all of them survivors of brutal homicide or gang warfare cases. She’d envied him for that detachment at the time, her own psyche still reeling from the ordeal she’d endured. It was only later she learned that even his wounds still hurt.

            “You’d probably find it very boring,” Karin said, toying with her bag. She really didn’t want to tell a woman she’d basically just met these sorts of things. “It wasn’t even romantic at all.”

            Sakura made an ‘oh’ shape with her lips, fixing her lip gloss and then smiled a little. “Well, Sasuke’s never been a romantic type – he used to throw out all the chocolates and love letters girls sent him in junior high school.”

            Karin knew Sasuke hated sweets with a passion. He took his coffee black, slightly singed, and bitter enough to curl hair. As to love notes, she’d never given him one to render judgment on – after all, she was an adult now and didn’t need some schoolgirl love note to snare the guy she was interested in. Instead, she’d flat out told him he was attractive and not just in a “we’re both horribly messed up, we understand each other, let’s be friends” kind of way. He didn’t bolt, or run screaming for the hills, and after an incredibly awkward silence admitted he was relieved, since apparently he’d been trying to figure out how to broach the subject for three weeks. What had followed had been a decidedly awkward affair for both of them, until they figured out what went where.

            “So, how long have you guys been a couple?” Sakura asked, fluffing her hair a little and stuffing her lip gloss back in her purse. “I mean, we kind of lose contact with Sasuke for long periods of time and he doesn’t always feel like chatting.”

            Sasuke sometimes told her that seeing his old friends made him feel weird and out of place, like he was an intruder on their happiness.

            Karin fiddled with her bag again. She felt like that now. “It’s hard to say exactly.   We’ve know each other for a while, but we didn’t really start actually dating, you know, really dating until more recently.”

            Sakura laughed a little. “Sometimes that’s the best way for it to go. If only my love life went that smoothly!”

            Karin gave her an awkward smile.

            “You know, I used to have the biggest crush on him, back before I realized what a total spaz I was being,” Sakura said, smiling, “And now he’s just a good friend, albeit a little distant, and I just wish for his happiness.”

            Karin did not know how to respond to that, but inwardly hoped the other woman had a point.

            “So, I kind of had to meet you and see for myself,” Sakura stated simply. “He’s been unhappy for so long, you see... But it’s really obvious how much he likes you! Even Naruto can see it and he’s usually _totally_ inept when it comes to this kind of thing.”

            Naruto, who Karin had been briefly introduced to, seemed like the goofing off type of person.

            “You make Sasuke happy,” Sakura concluded. “So, please, please be careful with him. He may not seem like it, but he gets hurt easily.”

            Karin knew that already – she’d helped piece him back together more than once, just as he’d helped her do the same – but she still put a reassuring hand on the pink haired woman’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Sasuke... he makes me happy.”

            Sakura smiled and squeezed her hand in a silent thanks.

 


	61. Stealthy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High School AU; Math dorks

            “Are you going to tell her?” Suigetsu asked, staring at Sasuke curiously, now showered and changed back into the uniform of Sound Acadamy.

            “Eventually,” Sasuke replied, adjusting his black tie and checking the grey uniform jacket for lint. He picked up his school bag and checked his watch. “I don’t see what the rush is.”

            “Man!” Suigetsu said, rolling his eyes. “You’ve got to make a move, ‘cause if you’re not, other guys will think she’s back in play.”

            Sasuke gave him an Arctic-cold glare as they left the locker room.

            “...Not that I’m one of those guys, Sasuke,” Suigetsu sputtered out quickly. “I know you’re sweet on her! It’s just... Juugo and I have been hearing some things around, you know?”

            Sasuke scowled. He’d been sure he made his point about Karin being off-limits to the other boys in the Academy earlier.

            “If the two of you hooked up, I’m pretty sure that’d shut those brats up,” Suigetsu said candidly. “That and I wouldn’t have to watch you pine away in silence like some idiot in a romance novel.”

            Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance and smacked him on the head as he walked past him. “Don’t be a moron.”

            “Aw, come on...” Suigetsu whined, “Where are you going?”

            “To the library,” Sasuke replied, not looking back. “I’m meeting Karin there to study for the Calculus test.”

            “Math, ew!” Suigetsu made a gagging noise and started to veer towards a classroom.

            Sasuke realized belatedly that he probably shouldn’t have told Suigetsu where he was going. Invariably, Suigetsu was probably going to conveniently ‘forget’ to go to his assigned study hall, find Juugo and then rush to the library so the two of them could spy on him and Karin. Oh well, no sense in fretting about it now, he thought, entering the library.

            Karin was already waiting for him at one of the tables by the far wall, going over some notes and working on a practice problem. She looked up when he approached, smiling a little, and indicated the chair next to her. He slid into it, putting down his bag, and opened up his textbook, as she began to describe the problem to him.

            Somewhere between the fourth or fifth problem they’d gone over, his arm had found its way to the back of her chair and she’d begun to lean a little more towards him. Sasuke wouldn’t have even noticed, except that his hand nearly brushed hers as he went to make a notation on a u substitution and they’d both blushed.

            It was funny – he knew she liked him and he definitely liked her, but the words just never seemed to want to come out.

            He opened his mouth to say something and suddenly there was a muffled squeak from the nearby stacks. Juugo and Suigetsu were watching, no doubt. If he confessed now, by morning it’d be all over school. And yet, if Suigetsu was right about the other guys... There had to be a way to tell her without those two figuring it out. His eyes drifted back to the practice problem. If only it was as easy as Calculus!

            Of course!

            Neither Suigetsu or Juugo were any good at math, but _Karin_ was! If he just substituted these numbers...

            “So about this problem,” Karin said, still blushing as she looked at him.

            He smirked, blushing a little, and went for it: “U squared equals sine x, me squared equals cosine x. U squared plus me squared equals one.”

            Karin’s eyes widened in surprise, her blush deepening as she figured it out. Quickly, she pressed the alpha button on her calculator and rapidly typed in something. “Ah, would you check if my math is right?” she asked, showing it to him.

            _I LU 2_ read the screen.

            He nodded. “That looks about right.”

            They shared another look, smiling, and continued studying, their observers oblivious to the exchange.

 


	62. Panic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> futurefic, AU, Dad!Sasuke, OC children

            “Finally,” Sasuke muttered as he and his team sloshed through the gates to Konoha. It was past midnight and they’d just got back from the borders of Rain, where they’d spent the last week as heavy fire support for the Rain ninja. They were soaked, tired, and if he never saw mud again, it would be too soon. All he wanted to do was have a nice hot shower, a cup of sake, and crawl into bed with his wife.

            “Sasuke-sensei,” one of his former genin piped up – now a jounin, seven years his junior. “If you want to head home, we’ll report in to Hokage-sama.”

            He grunted, nodding wearily, and watched as they disappeared, flickering across the rooftops like specters on their way to the tower. It was hard to think that only sixteen years ago, those brats had been unable to use chakra to walk on walls.

            Sasuke took to the rooftops shortly afterward, headed towards the residential sector, and soon silently dropped onto his porch. He grumbled as he slid back the porch door and entered, pulling off his muddy shoes. Dumping his jounin vest, weapons, and gloves in a heap by the door, he shuffled down the hall towards the bathroom.

            A thump and a muffled curse came from his eldest son’s room, followed by a girlish giggle.

            Sasuke scowled – Rinji was seventeen, but Sasuke was _tired_ and he didn’t need to spend the entire night with nightmares of being a grandparent at his age. He grabbed a fistful of condoms from their hiding place, marched to his eldest son’s room and tossed open the door.

            Everything he was about to say was forgotten.

            Rinji had his hands on the clasp of the bra of his only female teammate, Hana Uzumaki – Naruto and Sakura's daughter –, who was straddling him. Both teens froze, staring at him in shock.

            “Um... Hi, dad,” Rinji managed, paling considerably as Hana quickly started reaching for her shirt.

            Sasuke did the only thing that seemed to make sense at the time – he shouted, _“KARIN!”_

            A half a minute later, a very sleepy Karin stumbled into the hallway. “Sasuke? What, what’s wrong?”

            Sasuke pointed, unable to quite put the image into words. This was his son – and, yes, he was certainly old enough now – but the thought of his son doing _that_ with _Naruto’s_ daughter, no less... He needed sake, a lot of sake, and a way to bleach his brain.

            Karin walked over, peered into the room and suddenly grinned, giving them a thumbs-up. “About time! It took you two long enough.”

            “Mom!” Rinji squawked in horror.

            “Karin!” Sasuke shrieked.

            “Oh man, I’m _so_ sorry, Hana,” Rinji murmured, completely mortified.

            The door of his younger son’s and twin daughter’s rooms opened as they poked their heads out, sleepily. “What’s going on?” asked his younger son.

            “Nothing, Kadou, just go back to bed. You too, girls,” Karin said. She pried the condoms from Sasuke’s hand, threw them at her oldest son, reached over and closed the door.

            Sasuke stared at her in a combination of confusion and betrayal. “Karin?”

            Karin smiled, shaking her head, and guided him towards the bathroom. “Let’s leave the lovebirds be.”

            “But, Karin,” he whined, “It’s... She’s... He’s...”

            “Sasuke,” Karin sighed, looking up at him, and kissed him on the forehead. “I love you, but you can be a real dumbass.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flustered!Ridiculous!Dad!Sasuke is best Sasuke.


	63. Shojo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU - genders reversed

            That boy was utterly infuriating sometimes, she thought, dropping onto her bed with a frustrated sigh. It was like he totally didn’t have a clue what she was on about.

            She groaned, mashing her head into the pillow.

            She’d given him the patented come-hither stare, she’d run her fingers through her hair when he talked to her, and she’d made sure to touch him when she was talking to him when they were alone. And he’d just kind of given her a completely blank, confused look. What would it take to get him to realize she was hitting on him?

            She sighed, rolling over to stare at the ceiling. Maybe she was just doing it wrong. Hell, she’d never done this kind of thing before. She’d only ever watched others, swearing that she’d never care for anyone like that.

            And then that stupid, gorgeous boy entered her life and she’d cursed herself for inviting the fates to spite her.

            No, she was sure she’d done it all right.

            Maybe... No, it couldn’t be... A good looking guy like that? He had to have had at least one girlfriend... Then again, she was supposedly easy on the eyes and she’d never had a boyfriend.

            She sat up, swinging her legs over the bed and standing. Maybe if she just told him. Guys had a tendency to be pretty darn clueless.

            Yes, that seemed like a plan.

            Putting on her most resolved face, she threw open the door, marched down the hall to his room, and kicked in his door.

            He stared, wide-eyed at her.

            “I...” her nerves faltered a little. “Kasuke... You... Damn it! I lo- I want to ravish you!”

            He adjusted his glasses, blushing as red as his hair, as he bowed his head a little and then looked up, making eye contact with her: “I love you, too.”

            She bristled, turning around with a huff. “Who said anything about love! I said _ravish!_ It’s completely different!”

            He chuckled a little, standing so he was directly behind her. “Have you forgotten? I know when you lie, Sarin,” he whispered, his lips brushing her ear. One of his fingers traced the curve of the Uchiha fan on her back. “You have no secrets with me.”

            She blushed – oh, that stupid boy and his stupid chakra sensing ability! She’d completely forgotten it was impossible to lie to him!

            “Of course, if you still want to ravish me, by all means, proceed,” he said, teasingly.

 


	64. Takagari

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon Typical Violence

            “Ah, a ghost come to visit me,” the daimyo, a slimy toad of a man, chuckled, eyeing the red-headed girl in his doorway. “You’re not wearing the right, clothes, ghost.”

            Karin glared coldly at him. Her kimono was new, cut for an unmarried girl and restricted her movement greatly. She disliked it, but it was useful for hiding things. “You might prefer it if I were a ghost.”

            “To think, after all these years, you were still alive,” he commented.

            “I survived,” she said, evenly.

            Karin knew he didn’t fear her, but he would.

            “Since you have shown your face, I assume you’re here to avenge your people,” the daimyo waved his hand dismissively. “The last time I saw you, little girl, your only offensive capability lay in your abysmal calligraphy.”

            Karin didn’t flinch at the insult. “I’ve taken up a new hobby.”

            “Oh?” the daimyo said, raising his eyebrow in curiosity.

            She raised her hand, drawing back the long sleeve to reveal the leather gauntlet and smiled cruelly as she said, “Takagari.”

            Sasuke landed on the railing behind her, his cloak billowing out around him like wings and his eyes alight with the Sharingan. On his ankle, a strap of leather was tied, two bells hanging from the grommet in it.

            The daimyo let out a cry of fear and scrambled back.

            Karin lifted the glove and Sasuke sped past her, sword flashing.

            She smiled as the screams began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takagari is the Japanese form of falconry. It has a heavy association with the nobility and samurai class. In this, Sasuke serves as Karin's hawk, hence the bells tied to his ankle.


	65. Tadaima

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> same AU as Chapter 58: Acquired; team as family

            “Sasuke,” Naruto stated, inclining his head as he acknowledged his once-friend. On the walls above him and behind the gates, ANBU and jounin waited for the first sign of hostility.

            The missing-nin lingered just a little ways off, his cloak ragged and his eyes weary. “I was wondering if your offer still stood.”

            “Of course,” Naruto said, hiding his surprise. After all this time, _now_ Sasuke wanted to come back?

            Sasuke shifted on his feet a little, almost like a cornered animal. “What about my family? Are they welcome too?”

            “Yes, of course,” Naruto said, a thoughtful expression on his face. Now things were beginning to make a little more sense. If Sasuke had started a family, then he would absolutely want to ensure their safety.

            “All of them?” Sasuke asked sharply, his eyes narrowing.

            “Every one,” Naruto agreed. He knew from his last encounter with them and from scattered reports that Sasuke had been even closer to his teammates after his rescue from Madara’s clutches, so he figured it was only natural that Sasuke must have come to think of them as family, too.

            Sasuke nodded, seemingly satisfied, and turned his head. “It’s okay, everyone! You can come out now!”

            His redheaded companion, Karin, stepped out of the shadows of a rocky outcropping, three or four small, wraithlike thin children following her. From behind a tree, the berserker Juugo emerged, more children at his side and hanging off his shoulders. From the brush, the swordsman Suigetsu appeared, several older children with shabby looking, clearly secondhand ninja tools following at his heels.

            Naruto’s jaw dropped.

            Sasuke smiled mischievously at the orange-clad Hokage as he linked arms with Karin and the whole group surged forward, a mass of half-starved, smelly children. Sasuke paused next to Naruto and innocently asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find a decent house for my family? It’s rather large, you see, and we’re expecting more.”

            Naruto gaped. “How... what...?”

            Karin giggled and tugged Sasuke along after the children.

            Suigetsu took pity on the flabbergasted Hokage. “They’re orphans, stupid,” he explained, “Just like we used to be. Now, we’re family.”

 


	66. Ice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor sensuality

            It was hot.

            Summer had reached a blistering peak, the days dragging on seemingly forever in the humid weather.

            Karin hated it. It was too hot to do anything except complain about the heat and even that took too much energy. She leaned back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling as she listened to the bugs in the distance. The clasps of her bra dug into her bare back.

            The door slid open and shut quietly before Sasuke’s face loomed over hers. “You look hot.”

            “I’m dying of the heat,” Karin groaned, flopping a hand over her eyes. “How can you stand it?”

            He smirked. “I have my ways.”

            “Smug bastard,” she grumbled, letting her hand fall to the side.

            Sasuke was quiet a moment and then moved so he was facing her. “Perhaps you’d be cooler if you took off your stockings,” he said and she nearly jumped when he touched the hem of her stockings with an icy cold finger.

            “Your hands are freezing, Sasuke!” she hissed, blushing. It may have been cold, but it was a relief from the relentless heat, and finally she slapped a hand over her face to try and quell the embarrassment. “Well, get on with it, Frosty.”

            He smiled and gently rolled down her stocking with his icy hands, sending pleasant chills down her spine. He paused a moment, something near him rattling a little, and then he repeated the procedure with her other stocking.

            Karin fought the urge to moan appreciatively.

            Sasuke then touched her shoulder, a bit of ice wedged between his fingers. He dragged it down, following the curve of her shoulder to her chest and then bringing it down between her breasts and to the edge of her bra, and asked, “Are you feeling cooler now?”

            Karin stared at him, blinking, and then broke into a slow smile. “I’m afraid I’ve only gotten hotter.”

 


	67. Where it really counts

            The first time Sasuke saw his reflection after transforming with the curse seal, he was startled by the alteration. In the rush of that first battle with it, he’d never stopped to think or examine his new features beyond the curious darkening of his skin, the claws that had replaced his nails and the strange feeling of the wings on his back that he’d instinctively known how to use. He’d used it a few times since in training, practicing to keep his chakra under control and learn how to manipulate the enzyme into partial transformations, but never before had he seen it fully.

            His reflection glared at him, predatory and twisted. His hair had bleached, his skin gone dark and ashen grey, and his eyes had turned the color of pitch, burning gold irises stark against the black sclera. His lips had turned blue, the points of sharpened fangs visible in his mouth, and a black, four-pointed star slashed down the length of his nose, points spreading onto his cheeks.

            “Bakemono,” he uttered and smashed the mirror with his fist.

            His reflection sneered back at him from the broken shards, as though it knew he deserved to look like the monster he was becoming.

            Behind him, there was a sudden flash of red. Tensing, he immediately turned to look, coming eye to eye with the level gaze of Karin, the tracker they’d recently recruited.

            She stared at him, searching his face as she took a step forward, and then gently traced the outline of the star on his nose. She adjusted her glasses, nodding, and, seemingly satisfied, stepped back a little.

            Sasuke blinked, his clawed hand drifting to his face.

            “I heard a noise,” she explained, reaching up to grab his hand and turned it over in hers. “Your knuckles are bleeding.”

            He didn’t respond, only flinching a little when she pulled a small bit of glass from between his knuckles.

            “Here,” she said, holding out her arm. “Bite down. I can heal you a little if I focus my chakra.”

            Sasuke stared at her in confusion. “Aren’t you afraid of me like this?”

            “No,” she replied, staring right back into his eyes. “You’re still you inside.”


	68. Avanti!

            Sasuke was always at the head of their team, even when it had been just the two of them in training. He was the leader, after all. Though he often bluffed and hid his hand until he was ready to play it, when he finally did move into action, it was always rather direct and to the point. He preferred it that way, focusing on an absolute offensive strategy and maintaining strict control of the situation at hand.

            Karin knew this very well and didn’t mind. She was his scout, eyes always open for trouble and targets, and he trusted her with his back, one of the key weaknesses of any ninja. In effect, he trusted her with his life and their safety as a group. She could count on him to take the information she had and use it to keep them out of harm’s way.

            But Sasuke had to keep moving forward, _always._ His control wasn’t perfect. If he was blocked or prevented from his course, his strategies would unravel as he began to lose control of his emotions. She’d only seen it happen a few times when they were in training and it ended badly for those he was fighting. He would destroy them with reckless, feral abandon.

            What Juugo and Suigetsu had told her after their fight with Kirabi confirmed her worries – Sasuke would have plunged into his own fire instead of putting it out if they hadn’t stopped him.

            Karin knew something wasn’t right. A coldness had been growing within him since Madara redirected him to the summit and she didn’t know exactly what she should do, so she said nothing and did her job. He was counting on her to do her job and so were Suigetsu and Juugo. But every time the situation spiraled a little further out of control, the chill grew larger and she feared Sasuke lost another shred of himself. His behavior was growing more reckless and erratic with each delay.

            Where was the boy she’d known?

            As the Mizukage blocked their way and Sasuke started to lose control again, Karin had the strangest sensation that maybe Sasuke had never been meant to reach his goal. Maybe this had all been to prime him for a more sinister purpose, a purpose that required all the members of his team to be taken from him and his mind pushed beyond reason into madness.

            _Madara_ , she realized and felt her stomach lurch at the revelation.

            Before Sasuke’s strength ran out, the bastard would appear and spirit him away for whatever he had up his sleeve, leaving Taka to their fates. They’d all walked right into his trap and now it was just a matter of time.

            It was unacceptable.

            She reached out with her senses to find Juugo and Suigetsu, noting their location. She would need them to get Sasuke back. It would be difficult for her to get out of here, but she’d find a way. She had to.

            Sasuke had trusted Karin to watch his back and, come hell or high water, she wasn’t going to let him down.

 


	69. Critic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prequel to Chapter 27

            “Oh wow, I didn’t know you read this trash, Sasuke,” Karin said from somewhere behind him.

            He looked over his shoulder, recognizing the orange book in her hand. “I don’t. My last teacher gave it to me for my birthday as a bad joke or something.”

            “Seriously?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “What kind of teacher does that?”

            Sasuke shrugged, going back to unpacking his things.

            “Have you ever read it?” she asked and he could hear her turning a few pages.

            He shook his head. “No, those kinds of books don’t interest me.”

            “I can see why,” she said, flipping another page. “This almost sounds like it’s written by some perverted thirteen-year old.”

            Sasuke resisted the urge to snort. Naruto’s mentor, Jiraiya, wouldn’t have enjoyed the comparison.

            “Listen to this,” she said, stifling a giggle. “ _He tore the bodice of her gown, revealing the bountiful mounds hidden beneath, and leaned in to caress them as they jiggled with each of her breathy moans._ What the hell is he talking about? Breasts? Who calls them that?”

            This time Sasuke did snort, a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

            “It gets better,” she giggled and he could hear her muss the sheets on his bed as she turned. _“Take me, take me now, she cried out, unable to bear the tortuous pleasure. He observed her a moment, taking in the sight of her wanton, sensual form –_ and oh wow, I can’t even continue. It’s just plain bad writing!”

            Sasuke shook his head as his smile grew, putting away his clothes.

            Karin paused and he heard her moving around a little. “No... Sasuke, come here for a second, I need your help to figure this out.”

            He turned, looking at her curiously.

            “See, they’re supposed to be in this position,” she said, frowning as she held out the book. “But then he writes that she moved her arm here and then he’s suddenly like that. It doesn’t make sense.”

            Sasuke frowned, looking at the text she’d indicated, and then looked her up and down. “Do you trust me?”

            “Don’t ask stupid questions you already know the answer to!” Karin huffed, glaring at him.

            He snorted a little and put an arm around her waist, his hand resting in the small of her back. “Don’t move,” he warned her as she blushed and stiffened nervously at the contact.

            Carefully, he slowly dipped her back onto the bed, using his other hand to bring her leg up and over his waist. He braced himself by bringing his knee up onto the bed as he guided her down so that he now leaned over her, little more than a hand’s breadth from her bright red face.

            “She brought her hands up to his face and shoulder,” Sasuke said and waited until she had raised her hands, placing one at his head and the other on his opposite shoulder. “Now, use your hips to roll us.”

            Karin shifted her hips, using her full weight and lower center of gravity to roll him further onto the bed and under her. It left her body pressed against his in an unfamiliar, intimate way. He was so close that he could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest and the press of her breasts against his chest.

            It – it wasn’t as bad as he’d feared.

            Karin then seemed to realize where she was and what she was doing. Immediately, she sat up, blushing brightly.

            “Okay, so he did his homework,” Karin admitted. “It’s still bad writing.”

            Sasuke smirked in amusement.

 


	70. Spice

            Of all the things Karin found amusing about her relationship with Sasuke, the fact that their collective preference in seasonings was one of the first real things they’d shared was perhaps one of the most amusing.

            Her favorite dish was okonomiyaki. Every time she’d had the spare time and cash to make it, she’d buy the supplies and load it up with the usual fixings, often making a beeline for her topping of choice, katsuobushi.

            One day, she’d discovered someone had been taking it.

            Now, it was every man for himself most of the time in Orochimaru’s bases, so she’d taken pains to not only mark it as hers, but hide it as well. She was quite diligent about protecting her spices, especially with that creepy Kabuto hanging around, and would switch up the locations often, booby trapping them. And still the katsuobushi kept disappearing! Frustrated, Karin had staged an elaborate trap to catch her thief and was entirely surprised when she finally caught him in the act of preparing his dinner.

            Sasuke Uchiha, as it turned out, loved onigiri made with katsuobushi.

            “You need to get more,” he’d told her, shaking the last of it into the onigiri he was rolling into a ball, entirely unrepentant.

            Karin had promptly paid him back by stealing his onigiri and eating it, declaring it only fair since it was her katsuobushi and he hadn’t bothered to replace her stock of it like a proper gentleman the entire time he’d been stealing it.

            The next day, he had stolen her okonomiyaki and countered that it was fair since she’d stolen his rice.   This continued into the day after that, as she’d stolen his onigiri again and he’d stolen her okonomiyaki again. By the time several days had passed, they were both meeting in the kitchen, preparing their meals at the same time, so that they might have a better chance of taking them out from under the other’s nose.

            Karin still blushed whenever she recalled how their fingers would sometimes brush as they reached for the katsuobushi package.

            Somewhere between stealing each other’s meals and teasing each other, they’d switched to just stealing bites of each other’s food and teasing became genuine conversation. They’d even started to look forward to cooking meals together. Then, news of Konoha hunter-nin came and they were shuffled to other bases until they were clear of danger.

            “The food is terrible here,” he’d told her in a letter. “It lacks flavor.”

            It was not entirely a surprise that the next time they were housed in the same base he’d brought her a package of katsuobushi.

 


	71. Grown Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> futurefic, AU, Kiba POV

            Kiba watched quietly as the small horde of young, curious children fooled around on the playground. A little bit off, the rest of the former Rookie Nine, Team Gai and their spouses – as well as his own – lingered on their picnic blankets, chattering away and watching as Naruto stood, making a pantomime of some enemy from years ago.

            Akamaru woofed softly and Kiba turned his head, noting the small, pale figure of Sasuke’s kid lingering nearby with a nervous expression.

            “It’s okay,” Kiba said, closing his eyes for a moment as he leaned back against the nin-dog’s side. “Akamaru won’t bite you.”

            The little boy chewed his lip hesitantly and slowly stepped forward until he was next to Kiba.

            Akamaru woofed playfully, lolling his tongue, and turned his massive head to lick the little boy.

            “See?” Kiba said, smiling at the kid.

            The little boy smiled back, his eyes practically lighting up.

            He stood slowly, joints popping as old injuries complained, and then chuckled. “How about a ride? What do you say, Akamaru?”

            Akamaru barked, ears perking. Akamaru loved this kind of thing – hell, Kiba’s own kid had practically been riding on his back since he was born.

            “Up you go,” he said, hauling the little boy up onto Akamaru’s back. “Hold on to his fur here and here – not too tight! There you go. Akamaru will handle the rest.”

            And, indeed, no sooner had he said so, then Akamaru was trotting off, the delighted little boy on his back.

            “He’s going to want a puppy now, you know,” Sasuke said from directly behind him.

            “Don’t do that, jackass,” Kiba said with a frown, swatting the ex-last Uchiha.

            Sasuke merely evaded with a casual grace, his eyes still fixed on Akamaru and the little boy clinging to his back. “It’s funny, isn’t it, how far we’ve come?”

            “Yeah, I guess so,” Kiba admitted, scratching his head. “Everyone’s all grown up now.”

            Naruto laughed particularly loudly.

            “Well, except him,” Kiba sighed and Sasuke chuckled, nodding his head in agreement.

            “You know, I never pegged you for the marrying type,” Kiba said, looking at Sasuke.

            Sasuke shrugged, his hands in his pockets, and looked up at the sky. “Never thought I would either,” he admitted and then smiled. “But Karin made a convincing argument.”

            Kiba snorted, shaking his head good-naturedly. When he’d first met the girl they’d called Sasuke’s girlfriend, he’d been shocked – he’d been expecting some kind of freak show science experiment or maybe a girl made of marble. Surely, nothing else could be a match for the cold-fish Uchiha. Instead, he’d been shocked to see a rather aggressive but fiercely loyal red-headed girl on Sasuke’s arm, reaming him out for his stupidity, and Sasuke smiling like an idiot as he clung to her like she was his life-support. She’d been so loyal to him that she’d single-handedly convinced Naruto and Sakura that Sasuke wasn’t beyond saving – something pretty respect-worthy to the Inuzuka, who prided loyalty.

            Kiba had wondered about their relationship, too. How the hell had a cold bastard like Sasuke ever ended up with a fiery girl like that? After all, Sasuke had never liked to be touched and was always distant, but he allowed Karin to touch him freely and, since they’d been together, Sasuke had been slowly becoming more involved with the group. She always seemed to know what he was thinking, too. Real mind-meld level of stuff, actually. It made him a little jealous because, sometimes, he felt like he’d give anything to know what was going through his wife’s head like Karin seemed to do with Sasuke.

            “Your wife... she’s something else,” he said, finally.

            “I know,” Sasuke said, smiling. “She saved me.”

            They stood watching in silence as Akamaru trotted around the playground with the beaming little Uchiha on his back, the other children now following, giggling and demanding their turns.

            “Think our kids will be on the same team?” Kiba asked.

            “Nah,” Sasuke said. “Naruto will probably stick my kid on a team with his just to drive me nuts. Karin will probably find it hilarious.”

            Kiba snorted in amusement.

 


	72. Ink

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gang War AU; language

            “Next!” calls a familiar voice from the next room.

            Sasuke shuffles in and sinks into the chair with a heavy thud, resisting the urge to wince.

            Karin snaps on some fresh latex-free gloves and turns around. She pauses, staring at him, and sighs, “Jesus, Sasuke, what the fuck happened to you?”

            He’s aware he’s something of a sight. His right eye’s still purple and swollen, his split lip is throbbing, and his knuckles are covered in bruises.

            “Had a discussion,” he answers.

            Karin sighs again, rolling her eyes. “Jesus fucking Christ, Sasuke. The cops aren’t going to come around looking for you again, are they?”

            “Nah,” he says. “Ain’t in the other guy’s best interests.”

            “Just great,” she says, throwing up her hands as she turns back to the counter and starts pulling out the tools of her trade.

            He knows that she knows what he means. She’s not stupid. She does a lot of gang ink and she’s hidden him more than once when the cops came looking.

            “I want something special this time,” he says, tapping his left arm, “Something for us.”

            Karin shakes her head as she turns around and slams the plastic tray down on the side cart next to him. “Goddamn it, you stupid jerk, I told you – I can’t do this!”

            “Karin,” he says, reaching out and grabbing her by the arm. “I _need_ you.”

            “For what? So I can watch you get your ass killed?” she shouts, tearing her arm away. She touches his face and he winces. “Look at yourself, you fucking moron! One of these days, you’ll pick a fight with the wrong fucking gang or the cops will finally get fucking lucky and you’ll be fucked!”

            She turns her back to him just as the tears start to brim in her eyes and, with a sniffle, she wipes her eyes. “You know I love you, right, but I can’t go through that again.”

            Sasuke frowns. She’s right. He knows she’s right. He really has been lucky so far. The cops know this area’s all illegal tenements full of people who won’t rat on each other, despite the ethnic tensions, and especially not about the few boys like him that are willing to kick the gangs out of the neighborhood. Most of the time he’s gotten away with few injuries – cracked ribs, broken knuckles or the occasional dislocated shoulder. There was only one time he’d ever been messed up real bad and that was when he’d been shot, but that had nothing to do with fighting ordinary thugs. That incident was personal and he’s still hesitant to explain what happened to her.

            Karin’s never forgiven him for almost bleeding out on her like that. It shook her up pretty bad.

            “These guys... you know the cops can’t be everywhere, Karin,” he says. “I can’t just sit by and do nothing.”

            She shakes her head and starts ripping off her gloves.

            “I don’t want to see you get hurt,” he adds.

            “You don’t get it,” Karin sighs, reaching for a new pair of gloves.

            Sasuke frowns and he has the feeling he’s hurt her again. “Once I settle it with Itachi, Karin, I promise I’ll stop and we’ll leave this shithole.”

            He means it. He does.

            Karin sniffles, pulls on the new gloves, and turns, smiling thinly. “What do you want done?”

            Sasuke can see she’s hurting and it chews him up like broken shards of glass. “A hawk carrying a tomoe-shaped magatama.”

            Karin cleans his arm with alcohol swabs and rips the new needle out of its protective wrapping, fitting it into the tattoo machine.

            “Karin,” he murmurs, “I don’t want to lose you, but I’ve got to stop him.”

            She frowns and he knows she doesn’t want to hear this – she’s pissed at him and she’s got every reason to be.

            “You don’t understand,” Sasuke says and feels his split lip crack. “Back then, that bullet wasn’t meant for me. He was aiming for you.”

            Her face pales as the tattoo machine clatters back into the plastic tray.

            “Itachi’s done this before,” he admits. “That’s where Naruto got that scar on his stomach. He went after Sakura and Kakashi, too. Ask Sakura sometime why she walks with a limp – it’s his handiwork. He doesn’t like people getting too close.”

            Karin shakes, staring at him in dawning horror, and he leans forward, pulling her into a hug.

            “I’m so sorry, I should have told you sooner,” he whispers, rocking her in his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

 


	73. Elope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arranged marriage AU

            Sasuke was bored to tears. He was standing outside in the courtyard with his prospective bride-to-be and staring ahead at nothing. Inside, his father and older brother continued to haggle over the dowry with her father.

            He shot a glance out of the corner of his eye at the girl.

            Redheaded with red eyes, Karin was striking at first glance and the glasses lent her a sort of cute quality. Not that he paid attention to that kind of thing, but it suited her face was all. She looked exceedingly put out by the whole affair and shifted uncomfortably in her formal kimono.

            “They’re certainly taking their time,” she huffed, crossing her arms.

            Sasuke blinked and then slowly smiled. “Well, they have to be quite careful, you know. There are lots of things that must be considered in the grand scheme of things, especially if we want to show up our erstwhile Hyuuga cousins.”

            She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Nothing like showing up the neighbors, huh?”

            “We’re forbidden from fighting each other, so we’ve settled for showing each other up,” Sasuke explained. “Regardless of how much property the Uchiha clan gets out of this marriage – even if it’s nothing – we still show up the Hyuuga, since you’re a higher rank than the twit they’re marrying their heiress’s little sister to.”

            Karin pushed up her glasses on her nose. “It’s such a lovely feeling to be a pawn in a game of one-upmanship between the nobility.”

            “No kidding,” Sasuke sighed. “Don’t hang out with your teammates all the time, Sasuke. They’re of poor breeding, Sasuke. Date her, Sasuke! She’s of good birth, Sasuke. You’re getting married and you don’t have a choice about it, Sasuke...”

            “You don’t have to mock me,” Karin said frostily.

            “I’m not,” Sasuke sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “I was trying to say I understand. My friends are never good enough and sometimes I don’t get a choice, you know? You’d think as a second son I’d get more freedom, but no...”

            Karin closed her eyes, shifting and there was silence for a moment. “All this lack of choice,” she said, absently. “It makes our presence kind of redundant, doesn’t it?”

            Sasuke chuckled. “Yeah, you could say that.”

            “Kinda makes you wonder what would happen if we were to jump the proverbial fence,” she said, opening an eye and grinning mischievously.

            “It does indeed,” Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow curiously. “Say we replace the proverbial fence with the estate wall...”

            Karin smirked, hitching up her kimono to reveal traveling boots. “You know, you’re not so bad, Uchiha.”

            Twenty minutes later, Itachi chanced a look out the window, blinked and then looked back. “Father, it seems little brother and his bride are attempting to make a break for the border.”

            “What!”

           


	74. On the joys of parenting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU futurefic, next generation, Dad!Sasuke, next generation spawn, same universe as Chapter 62

            “Dad, big brother is being _mean_!” Kadou, the younger of his two sons shouted from the other room.

            Sasuke cracked an eye and mumbled incoherently into his pillow. What in the unholy name of the Rikudou’s balls...?

            “Kadou, your father is trying to sleep!” Karin scolded him. “He just got back from a mission!”

            “But _mom_ ,” Kadou whined as he passed the door.

            “’M awake,” Sasuke muttered, rolling out of bed and stumbling to the bedroom door. He slid it open and asked, “Wha’s going on?”

            The seven-year old was sulking. “Big brother’s being mean to me. I asked him to train me but he told me to stop being a brat and go home!”

            Sasuke sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Kadou, was your brother training with his team?”

            “...Yeah,” the seven-year old admitted sheepishly. He pushed up his glasses on his nose and bristled – it made him look like Karin when she was in a mood. “But he _promised_ he’d train me!”

            Sasuke sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. Honestly, how had his parents put up with this kind of thing? “Kadou, your brother’s on a genin squad now. He has to train with them. When he comes back after practice, _then_ you can train with him.”

            “But he never has time for me anymore!” Kadou whined as Sasuke began to steer him towards the kitchen.

            Sasuke felt like he was having déjà vu. It was creepy how much Kadou was like he’d been at that age. Idly, he wondered if the universe was playing a cosmic joke on him. “Well, your brother is growing up. Part of growing up is having to learn how to manage your time.”

            “I guess so,” Kadou said, pouting.

            Sasuke ruffled his red hair, earning a small protest, and smiled a little. “Tell you what, if you run to the store and get another package of katsuobushi, I’ll teach you a jutsu after supper.”

            Kadou immediately perked up. “Really?”

            “Yep,” Sasuke said, digging some cash out of one of the drawers in the hall. “No dango, though. You’ll ruin your dinner.”

            It was useless to lecture him, Sasuke knew that – Kadou would buy it anyway and then complain he was full halfway through dinner. Still, it would get his mind off of sulking about his older brother and get him out of the house for a while.

            He sighed, watching Kadou run out the door. “Karin, you ever feel like you’re turning into your parents?”

            “What the hell brought that on?” she asked, stirring the soup.

            Sasuke waved his hand dismissively. “Rinji and Kadou – it’s weird. It kind of reminds me of how Itachi and I were...” he paused, his face falling as his gut wrenched, “Before it all went bad.”

            “But they’re not the same,” Karin said, turning around and leaning against the countertop. She winced, making a face – this late in pregnancy with twins made it hard for her to sit comfortably. “Rinji’s more interested in medicine, he wouldn’t hurt anyone if he didn’t have to, and Kadou’s, well... he’s still figuring out what he wants. So, stop worrying about it. You’ll just give yourself an ulcer.”

            Sasuke snorted. “Maybe I’m just getting old. I keep feeling like I’m turning into my father.”

            “Ha, you _old_ , now there’s a concept,” Karin scoffed, leveling the ladle at him. “I’ll have none of that until you start getting white hairs.”

            “And wrinkles?” he asked teasingly as he approached her and braced his arms on either side of her.

            “Lots of ‘em,” she said as he kissed her.

            “Lots and lots,” he murmured, kissing her again.

            Rinji’s “Tadaima” from the other end out the house made Sasuke groan and move away. Shortly afterward, Rinji appeared, looking rather frazzled with his long hair in complete disarray.

            “Hana wanted to try wind jutsu,” he explained.

            Sasuke rolled his eyes and Karin started to say something when she suddenly stopped, wincing badly and raising her hand to her side.

            Sasuke knew that look. This was not a drill. This was the real deal. Oh man, and he’d just sent Kadou to the store!

            “Well, Rinji, you wanted to be a medic,” Karin quipped, “Give your father a kick in the leg and tell him to get me to the hospital.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Truthfully, the twins were not initially planned on my part, but it just _happened_.


	75. Dark Castle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horror/Samurai AU

            The castle loomed on the horizon, a dark and gloomy edifice of rotting wood and destroyed screens surrounded by a wall of young trees and ruins. Sasuke shifted on his horse, his gaze lingering on the decaying structure. There was something so sad about that place.

            “Who’s castle is that?” he asked.

            “That castle?” Kabuto, the advisor of their lord Orochimaru, shuddered. “You must not think of it, Uchiha-san. It is a cursed place, haunted by mononoke.”

            “What happened there?” Sasuke asked, shifting in the saddle and tugging at the reigns to pull his horse up short. He narrowed his eyes at the structure. It had a familiar feeling.

            “No one knows exactly,” Kabuto said, shrugging as he pulled his own horse up short. “They say that long ago mononoke came and destroyed the village, killing everyone in the castle. It then took up residence in the castle, where it has remained to this day, preying on treasure hunters and the lost.”

            Kabuto smiled ruefully and laughed, “You know how peasants are – they like to make up things. They were probably killed by an army. But the mononoke – now, that’s real. Stay long enough at the east estate and you’ll see for yourself.”

            Sasuke grunted.

            A light flickered on in uppermost tower of the castle.

            “See? There it is,” Kabuto said, shuddering. “We should go. It’s getting dark and this area is not safe.”

            They turned, clicking the reigns and hurried down the path towards the village of their lord Orochimaru.

            “Something is following us,” Sasuke said, urging his horse to a gallop.

            “It’s these damn woods!” Kabuto hissed as snapped the reigns, “They’re cursed!”

            Sasuke reached for the bow on his saddle and strung an arrow, as he followed the sound of something crashing through the bushes. He turned in the saddle, firing the arrow into the bushes. Something shrieked and a dark shape lurched across the path in front of them, diving into the bushes on the other side.

            The horses startled, turning abruptly and rearing in agitation, circling.

            “How far are we from the village?” Sasuke demanded. Only his skill as a horseman had kept him on its back.

            “Not very far!” Kabuto said, struggling to calm down his horse. He paled, reaching for something. “Orochimaru-sama’s scrolls!”

            Sasuke quickly scanned the path and spotted the bag. A small, deformed creature was huddled over it, sniffing curiously. He drew another arrow and prepared to fire again. The creature shrieked, scooping up the bag and scrambled into the forest.

            Kabuto cried out in horror.

            “I’ll get them,” Sasuke said, dismounting and strapping the bow back to his horse. “I won’t be long.”

            “Uchiha-san, don’t be stupid,” Kabuto said warningly. “The mononoke...”

            “Do not underestimate me,” Sasuke said, frowning, and plunged into the trees after the creature.

            Whatever it was, it was fast and Sasuke shortly found that he was quite glad he’d chosen to avoid wearing full armor for the journey. He’d have never been able to catch up if he’d been wearing it. Still, he had yet to overtake it and a thick, white mist had started to form.

            The creature disappeared into the fog ahead of him and he heard a heavy wooden creak.

            Sasuke slowed as he reached the spot where he’d last seen it and started as a gate became visible in the thick mist. It was in disrepair, the rotten wooden door hanging open and the stone walls crumbling. The family mon was faded almost beyond recognition, though he could see the arc of gentle curve at the top. This had to be the castle, then.

            The sound of movement brought his attention back to the task at hand.

            Sasuke followed the noise, right up to the entrance of the castle interior, where he hesitated long enough to rig a makeshift torch. The creature, far ahead of him at the end of the hall, yowled at the sudden light and scrambled up the stairs to the next level. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke followed it up, careful to avoid the rotted stairs as it fled higher and higher into the castle. It seemed like he’d been chasing it forever when it finally scampered across a small, once lavish room near the top of the castle and plunged behind some rotting screens.

            Sasuke grimaced as he stepped out onto the dusty, lacquered floor and suddenly stopped, the world spinning like a top.

            All around him, the castle seemed to come to life, the screens once more whole and the wood painted and new. Candles flared to life, casting a warm glow across the room as his torch extinguished. Kabuto’s warning about the mononoke now came back to him in full. Could this be...?

            Still, he was no coward. Sasuke abandoned the torch and started forward to the screens he’d seen the creature dive behind, keeping his hand on his sword. He hesitated a little and slowly drew the screen back.

            A redheaded woman was there, her back to him as she doted on a small dog carrying a familiar-looking bag, one which undoubtedly held the scrolls. She turned slowly to look at him and smiled. “Tadaima, Sasuke, my beloved.”

            He winced, a sharp pain running through his head as he got a flash of sake cups and a bride’s shiromuku. “How did you...? Who...?”

            “I’ve been waiting a long time,” she said, standing and shyly brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I was worried.”

            Sasuke took a step back as another sharp pain ran through his head. He’d seen the gesture before - _she always did it_. He winced again and grabbed his head. _Her name was Karin, she was his wife._ “What is this?”

            “It’s all right, Sasuke,” she said. “You’re home now.”

            He cried out in agony, stepping back and clutching his head. Everywhere, on the floor, on the screens, the Uchiha family mon stared back at him, bright red and stark white as if freshly painted. It couldn’t be!

            Servants and retainers began to appear all around them, calling his name.

            “I missed you so much,” Karin said as she embraced him.

            It was as if something inside his head suddenly jarred loose and a deluge of memories engulfed his psyche. He howled, pitching forward and landing hard on his knees as the visions overwhelmed him. His brother smiled at him and suddenly he was staring at him with dead unseeing eyes, arrows piercing his armor. The castle was white and lively, the Uchiha clan’s stronghold. If they needed they could protect the villagers indefinitely. The walls were burning and he was choking on ash as he realized the enemy had hit the sector where the villagers where hidden. Karin was dancing on the grass in her new yukata as he laughed and then he could feel the swords in his back as he crawled across the lacquered floor towards her bleeding, broken body.

            The scrolls caught fire.

            Chanting, sealing words, pain pain it hurt no he didn’t want to go, no, no...

            Orochimaru’s face, so much younger, smiled.

            With a last oily burst, the scrolls burned out, leaving behind only ash.

            The next night, Sasuke returned to Orochimaru’s estate and proceeded to the lord’s chambers. Kabuto and Orochimaru were there when he arrived, discussing something.

            “You’re back!” Kabuto said, looking relieved. “I thought the mononoke had gotten you.”

            “You could say that,” Sasuke smiled ruefully as he drew his sword, the air around him stirring. The candles in the room blew out with a sudden gust of wind and then Karin appeared, floating behind him. He sneered, adding, “My wife and I would like to have a word with you, Orochimaru- _sama_.”

            “Guards!” Kabuto cried.

            “They’re not coming,” Sasuke stated simply, gesturing with one hand. Every screen door in the estate immediately slammed open, revealing the bodies of all the guards and servants. Karin demurely covered her mouth with a bloody hand, giggling.

            Kabuto paled, backing away towards his master.

            “You should have let the dead rest,” Sasuke said.

            Orochimaru laughed.

 


	76. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same non massacre AU as Ch. 16, 36, and 56

            Sasuke frowns as he searches the rubble, his Sharingan scanning for the tell-tale flash of chakra that meant a survivor. Nearby, he can hear Sakura calling out for survivors, repeating that they were here to help, and the tell-tale pops of Naruto’s clones being destroyed as he uses them to scout unsafe areas in the district they were assigned to search. The radio receiver crackles in his ear as the jounin sensei of Team Eight reports they’ve found some survivors in the western district.

            Sasuke doesn’t want to be here, in some half-ruined border village, searching for people he didn’t even know. He wants to be home, helping his clan with their own dead and wounded. And yet, this was where the elders had ordered the rookie genin squads to go, as damage control following the ANBU pursuing the retreating invasion force.

            Not for the first or last time, he curses Orochimaru for invading.

            The old bastard knew where to hit them to make it hurt. Konoha is in shambles, the Third is dead, and many civilians, including many of the civilians in the Uchiha clan, perished in sabotaged shelters. They still didn’t have exact numbers on how many jounin had been lost to the snake summons but Sasuke knows they’ve been hit hard, the Uchiha clan especially. He’s never seen his father look so strained or furious, or seen his brother look so absolutely on edge.

            And here he is, on the border, looking for survivors in the village Orochimaru had half-crushed in his retreat.

            Sasuke frowns again, noting an arm sticking out of the rubble but seeing no chakra. He marks the location with a white tag for dead and moves on.

            “This is terrible,” he says.

            The receiver in his ear crackles and Kakashi’s voice responds, “Sasuke, keep the channel clear.”

            His ‘yes’ is mechanical and, absently, he rubs his neck where the microphone is resting. Shinobi are not supposed to feel, it’s a rule for a reason, and yet his gut still twists with anger, frustration, horror, and so many things he can’t name that he just feels alarmingly numb.

            A bit of blue flickers in the corner of his eye and he stops where he is, turning to look. It’s there and it’s a bright, brilliant burning blue. He immediately hurries to the spot, calling into the microphone, “I found someone!”

            “Sasuke, what’s your position?”

            “Hold on!” he says, tossing planks and crumbled bits of wall out of the way.

            “Damn it! Naruto, find Sasuke!” Kakashi’s voice is sharp.

            “Don’t worry, we’re here to help,” Sasuke says and warily regards the slab of concrete planted at an angle over the chakra source. He is more careful as he pulls away more of the debris and, as soon as he starts to see the person, he deactivates his Sharingan. He knows it unnerves people. “Can you move? Is any part of your body trapped under the rubble?”

            “I’m not pinned. I think my leg might be broken, though,” a girl’s voice hesitantly responds as he pulls away the last broken plank.

            Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi appear behind him, Sakura already hauling out her medical kit. Two of Naruto’s clones brace the concrete, while the original braces Sasuke.

            “Give me your hands, I’ll pull you out,” Sasuke says, holding out his hands.

            Her hands are covered in soot and scratches, but she latches on firmly and with a tug, she lands on top of him and starts cursing in pain.

            Sakura scolds him for being careless as Kakashi lifts up the redheaded girl and sits her down on a sturdy slab of concrete. Then Sakura busies herself with evaluating the girl’s wounds and setting her leg in a makeshift splint.

            Kakashi looks like he’s going to lecture him, but then the jounin turns and shakes his head, muttering something about Sasuke being just like his brother before ordering Sasuke to carry the girl back to base camp and take a breather. Naruto starts to protest, but one warning look from Kakashi and he shuts up.

            Sakura gives him a litany of medical cautions to observe while transporting her patient as she helps the redheaded girl swing onto Sasuke’s back. He hooks his arms under her legs to help steady her as she grabs on tightly.

            “What’s your name?” Sasuke asks as he starts walking. “My name is Sasuke Uchiha.”

            “It’s Karin,” the girl says and holds on tightly. “Have they...”

            She trails off and he feels her body tense on his back.

            “We’ve found a number of survivors,” Sasuke replies. “And most of the east part your village is intact. We’ve set up a base camp and triage unit there, but we’re still looking for people.”

            She relaxes a little.

            There is a heavy silence, punctuated only by reports from the radio in his ear.

            “Did they attack your village, too?” she asks.

            His body tenses at the memory and he can’t help it.

            “I’m sorry,” she says, holding onto him tightly.

            “We’re going to get him, the guy who did this to both our villages,” Sasuke says confidently. “He’s not going to get away this time.”

            He knows this because Itachi’s out there with his squad, hunting that old bastard, and Itachi won’t fail.

            Karin shifts again and then rests her head against his shoulder. “Thank you.”

 


	77. Perceive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-ninja AU

            Sasuke is a teenager when he starts to go blind.

            “It’s genetic,” the doctors tell him. “There’s very little we can do about it at this stage.”

            They give his guardian brochures and phone numbers and recommend he seek genetic counseling. On the other end of the phone, Itachi doesn’t sound surprised when Sasuke tells him, only concerned and Sasuke hangs up on him because he doesn’t need pity.

            Naruto just does what he always does and it was okay before, but now Sasuke hates it and hates him, because he doesn’t get it. In the end, he gets them both suspended for fighting and enjoys the fact that Naruto can’t see well out of a pair of swollen black eyes. The fact that it’s temporary makes his gut twist with jealousy.

            Sakura shows up later, hovering around him, worrying like always and it drives him mad because she knows something’s not right and, no, he doesn’t want to talk about it because no amount of talking can make it better. He yells at her and slams the door in her face.

            Sasuke begs his guardian to transfer him to another school and it takes weeks, weeks in which his eyesight deteriorates noticeably, before he’ll agree to sign the papers. And when he does, it’s not Sasuke’s condition that’s the reason – it’s that Sasuke is miserable and angry. His temper grows shorter and shorter while he’s trying like hell to conceal the problem from his nosy friends as his grades slip and he has more and more noticeable accidents.

            There’s a school that will take him, one that specializes, and it’s a boarding school.

            “What about your friends?” his guardian asks.

            “I’ll make new ones,” Sasuke says, because he hates his old ones for not understanding, for trying to understand, for being able to see and yet blind to the fact that losing his sight while the whole school watched and laughed at his misfortune was humiliating.

            The new school is different; he knows that right away, even though he’ll never see it. When he finally arrives, his blindness is total. He is disoriented completely, still unused to the alien blackness and the guiding clicks of the cane he’s told is white, and someone has to guide him everywhere. He hasn’t had time to learn much Braille and it bothers him because he doesn’t want to be seen as weak, so he throws himself into learning.

            There’s only one other person besides the counselor in his support group – the others here hadn’t had eyesight since childhood or infancy. It’s a girl, he knows it’s a girl from her voice, and she is just as angry and lost as he is.

            “Don’t underestimate me,” she says. “I’m not weak. I won’t be beaten by this.”

            Her name is Karin and he likes her immediately because she hasn’t rolled over and given up. Later, it’s because she gets it and knows what it’s like to lose a whole sense. Eventually, those things get mixed up in his head with his definition of Karin, who likes the same spice he does, bitches at him when he’s being down, and still wears her glasses because she feels weird without them even if she can’t see anymore.

            It’s almost strange to him to know he likes someone who he’s only been able to know by voice and touch. Sometimes, he wonders what she looks like, but he always dismisses the idea. He knows what her face looks like already, having traced it with his fingertips and committed the feel of each shape to memory. It’s so much different to feel rather than see. It’s more intimate, more _everything_ , and he can’t even begin to imagine how she really looks because he doesn’t want to ruin the image of her that his hands shape in his head.

            “I think I’m getting used to it,” he tells her, because it worries him even though he knows he hasn’t got a choice and she’s a friend or something. He’s not really sure if friends touch like they do.

            When summer comes, he misses her voice, the feel of her hands in his and the scent of the perfume she wears. Her absence leaves him disoriented.

            Sasuke looks forward to the start of term.


	78. Observer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hinata POV, AU

            Hinata is not sure what to think about Sasuke and Karin.

            She watches the two walk side by side, smiling as their fingertips brush and they exchange shy glances. To a Hyuuga’s eyes, it’s obvious how much they’re in love and her heart aches in turmoil.

            A part of her insists that she _should_ hate Sasuke and that he shouldn’t be allowed to be happy with someone. After all, Sasuke has caused both Naruto and Sakura tremendous amounts of emotional pain and Hinata can’t help being a little mad and not forgiving him for that. Sasuke has done such horrible things that she can’t help but think that, even just a tiny bit, he deserved to suffer.

            Almost immediately, Hinata shakes away the thought. No one deserved what he’d gone through.

            Part of her is torn between pity and empathy for Sasuke precisely because he’s suffered so terribly. Hinata can’t help it – it’s in her nature. What right does Hinata have to say he does not deserve to keep the small bit of happiness he’s found with Karin?

            Karin and Sasuke stop, examining a vendor’s booth and Sasuke’s hand lingers at the small of Karin’s back as she leans forward to examine the wares critically. They chatter lightly, everything about the way they’re standing and the way they’re so utterly at ease with each other screaming “we’re together.”

            She knows that if she asks, they’ll deny everything – she doesn’t know Karin at all, but she remembers that Sasuke has always been private – and she won’t be surprised at all when they finally do make it official.

            Idly, Hinata watches them and wishes she could be so lucky in her own love life.

 


	79. Big Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same AU as Chapter 18; overprotective Itachi

            Itachi may be estranged – and that, he realizes, is putting it quite mildly – from his dear brother, but he always keeps tabs on him from a comfortable distance. Sometimes, he is able to sneak in close enough to discreetly spy on him without his little brother being any the wiser.

            Itachi’s become quite curious about the ragtag little group Sasuke’s assembled to hunt him since the last time he’d looked in on him. More specifically, he is curious about the girl. Juugo and Suigetsu held little interest for him. The former, though certainly a medical marvel, had clearly been selected for his strength and sheer destructive capacity. Kisame was able to fill him in on the latter of the two and it was obvious that the young swordsman had been selected to incapacitate Kisame, depriving Itachi of a supporting teammate.

            Not that Itachi would have allowed Kisame to interfere, but that was neither here nor there.

            The girl, though... she’s no one of importance and that is precisely what bothers Itachi. He does some digging, but he’s unable to find anything on her, even in among what remains of Sasori’s data. She’s a virtual ghost in the system and it looks like someone has been making sure she remains that way.

            Sasuke’s fingerprints are all over this puzzle.

            Sasuke is good, but Itachi is better and it’s only a matter of time until he gets to the bottom of this.

            The girl is alone when he finally approaches her.

            “Sasuke, you shouldn’t be up yet,” she says, her back still to him. “Your wounds...”

            Her voice dies as she turns around and her red eyes go wide with horror behind her glasses.

            “What is your name, girl?” he asks impassively as he moves closer, studying her with a critical eye.

            The girl takes half a step back, fumbling with her glasses with one hand and reaching for something behind her with the other.

            “I asked you a question,” Itachi says, reshaping the table into a copy of himself with genjutsu. The copy grabs her arm, its expression blank, as her hand stops above the scroll she was reaching for.

            “It’s a genjutsu, it’s a genjutsu,” the girl repeats, shaking her head as she tries to focus her chakra.

            “Your name,” Itachi demands, his voice level.

            “Go to hell,” she spits out, red eyes blazing, but she doesn’t move.

            Stubborn, he concludes, moving in closer still, and he knows it’s time to switch tracks. “My brother seems to have collected a very interesting little group,” he says, cocking his head to the side as he stares at her. “But there is one thing that doesn’t fit.”

            She stiffens, her head jerking up in controlled anxiety.

            “You,” Itachi says, reaching and twirling a bit of her red hair in his long fingers. “You don’t fit.”

            She recoils, clearly repulsed by him.

            “My brother doesn’t have time for diversions,” he continues, leaning in until their faces are only inches away from each other. “So tell me, little girl, what is your connection to him?”

            “Fuck you,” she grounds out, bravely.

            “Answer the question,” Itachi says quietly. “Or I _will_ kill him.”

            She stiffens, chewing on her lip, and then straightens up. “I’m in love with him.”

            “And Sasuke?” he asks. “Would you follow him into the abyss if he were to leap?”

            She frowns, staring at him curiously, and he can see the wheels in her head starting to turn. The girl is clearly smart, if she can truly see what he’s getting at. “You still love your brother, don’t you?” she asks, finally. “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”

            He stares at her, unblinking, and raises his hands to make a seal as he answers, “No. He’s weak and a fool.”

            “Liar,” she responds.

            “Think about it,” Itachi counters coldly, stepping back.

            Miles away, he opens his eyes as the shadow clone’s experience pours back into his head and he contemplates the new information quietly.

 


	80. Shield

            Karin doesn’t need to protect Sasuke.

            Sasuke’s a big boy, he can take care of himself in combat. He’s got his brains and an incredible arsenal of jutsu at his disposal. He can shock or paralyze anyone who attempts to touch him and his speed is beyond reckoning.

            No, Karin certainly doesn’t need to protect him and he wouldn’t want her to anyway. Sasuke is a proud boy and he’s confident in his abilities.

            She still does.

            It’s only natural, since she cares for him a great deal, but her methods are hardly considered the more direct romantic gesture of younger, more idealistic girls. Indeed, most girls would find her approach decidedly plain and boring, hardly worthy of their fairy-tale idea of true, selfless love.

            Sasuke, on the other hand, has come to depend on her method of protection as a vital part of his defense. To him, it is more valuable than selfless declarations or flowery speeches and infinitely more useful than suicidal gestures.

            Karin puts her trust in his ability to protect himself and does her job, scouting ahead with her abilities, while Sasuke places his utmost faith in her abilities. Her eyes tell him all he needs to know to prepare for coming enemies and hunt down their prey. In this way, she is his first and most precious line of defense.

            No, it is certainly not romantic, nor glamorous, but when Sasuke is able to walk away from another fight alive because of her ability, she knows she’s succeeded.

            She doesn’t need to protect him, but she does anyway.

            Sasuke is counting on her.


	81. Pas de deux

            They have never really been alone before. Always, there had been someone watching, others nearby, or some pressing matter at hand, but they have never questioned that something links them. The sudden absence of distraction is strange and daunting and Sasuke has the worst feeling that Karin is pulling away from him, that she is frightened.

            Now, they are truly alone and there is no excuse.

            She drifts listlessly and he follows.

            Sasuke doesn’t exactly know what he’s doing, but he tries to convey his confusion, fear and _longing_ without words. It starts off simply, tentatively, and there is a real fragility to each gesture. His touches are feather-light, lingering, ghosting across her as he tries to describe the nameless feeling she evokes in his cold heart.

            She spurns him, evading his grasp as she curses him for his stupidity and curses herself for being so naïve as to follow him.

            He does not understand and can only watch as Karin’s anger reaches its height and then crashes down in a tumble of love, fear and worry, all directed at him.

            Sasuke is stunned to silence and stillness. Who would want such a man, steeped in blood and violence? Did girls not desire a flawless prince rather than a broken knight?

            He asks this aloud as he turns to his own thoughts. Could he, even so broken, love her back? He has yet to name the feeling she gives him and it troubles him. The idea of her suffering because of him makes him ill.

            She slips her hand into his and he looks at her in surprise, before smiling a little and deciding that it is all right if he does not know yet.

            Karin is still here, by his side, and they will continue on together.


	82. Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sakura POV, Sakura is a good friend

            Sakura thinks she should feel jealous of Karin. After all, she knew Sasuke first and she had spent so much time chasing after him. It seems appropriate and even warranted that Sakura should feel at least even a little jealous.

            Instead, she’s relieved that he’s okay, she’s surprised and a little confused by the way he introduces Karin, and she’s wary of the other girl partly for Sasuke’s sake and partly for the girl’s, but the jealousy has yet to rear its head. That, alone, is confounding and she wonders if it means she’s grown up.

            Sakura finds herself watching them.

            In particular, she watches Sasuke. Karin’s feelings are hard to miss – it’s obvious no matter how the redhead tries to hide it that she feels for Sasuke very deeply – and it makes Sakura frown because she remembers what it’s like to have a broken heart. Karin may be a bit snappish and distant on the outside, but she struck Sakura as a good girl and Sakura remembers Sasuke can be cruel to good girls. It is Sasuke’s feelings that she’s really curious about.

            Before he left, Sakura had become pretty good at “speaking Sasuke.” In the few months they’d been a team, she’d learned that Sasuke communicated much more with his body and posture than he did with words and she remembers the lesson well. He hunches inwards, crosses his arms over his chest, and looks away or closes his eyes when he isn’t interested in something. He is angrier and more liable to be snappish when he wants to be alone or something is bothering him. When Sasuke is interested and engaged in things, he stands in an open way, his entire body relaxing even the littlest bit and making eye contact with the people he’s talking to.

            Sasuke’s stance as he talks with Naruto and Sai is aloof, at half-guard. Sakura can tell by the way his feet are turned and his hands cross his chest. It pains her a little to think that he still doesn’t trust them, but she knows bridges aren’t rebuilt in a day.

            Karin emerges from the shop behind them and Sakura watches as Sasuke’s eyes lock on the redhead, his body relaxing completely and a small genuine smile creeping onto his face. He begins moving towards her and immediately opens his arms to take the bag, only to frown a little when she slips away from his hands and scolds him, telling him that he can’t peek. Karin’s hand brushes his in a way that looks almost accidental, but Sakura can see how Sasuke squeezes it a little before letting the girl’s fingers brush by and the way his eyes are focused on hers the whole time. And then Karin is off and running down the street, waving as she says she needs to take care of some more errands and that she’ll catch up.

            Naruto and Sai wave back, the former shouting out what training ground they’ll be at, while Sasuke stands still, his hand raised.

            Sakura walks up beside him, noting his confused and lost expression, before he realizes she’s there and it disappears beneath the usual icy veneer, his hand dropping.

            “What is it?” he asks.

            “You are _so_ in love with her,” Sakura says.

            “What?” Sasuke balks, eyes widening. “That’s...” He trails off, huffing in frustration, and she can see his entire posture tense, closing up. His arms are back over his chest and he’s snapped his head to the side to hide the spots of color high on his cheekbones that he always gets when he’s embarrassed.

            “It’s obvious,” Sakura explains. “You light up around her.”

            Sasuke stiffens, his shoulders hunching as he ducks his head a little. It’s somewhat reminiscent of a little kid who knows he’s been caught.

            Sakura sighs. “Have you told her yet?”

            He grunts, still not looking at her. In Sasuke-speak it was definitely _“no, I haven’t so please stop asking, you are making me so uncomfortable and it’s none of your business anyway.”_

            “Sasuke,” Sakura giggles, rolling her eyes. “You’re an idiot.”

            He glares at her and Sakura smiles, because she’s happy for him.

 


	83. Kitsune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Supernatural Monk AU

            There’s a red fox in the garden. Sasuke sees it when he’s cleaning the main temple walkway. It’s not a large fox, nor very unusual-looking and it immediately dives into its den, so he thinks little of it.

            The head of the monastery, Chiriku, scolds Sasuke when he tells him about it, for foxes are mischievous creatures and like to play tricks.

            Sasuke’s not concerned about that. He’s a bit unusual himself, after all, and he is cleverer than most.

            Weeks pass and he continues to see the fox as he does his chores around the temple grounds. Sometimes, he sneaks it bits of his supper and, little by little, it lingers longer in his vision. Eventually, it follows at his heels, a thing both tame and wild, and he tells it all his secrets.

            Chiriku scolds him about this, but it is because he’s worried about Sasuke.

            “I’m not little anymore,” Sasuke tells him, because it’s true, and Chiriku sighs, leaving him to his duties once more.

            The fox sleeps in his lap and he dreams of a young woman with hair the same red as the fox’s and dainty black-gloved hands. She is the fox and he knows it, but is not worried, for she is always a fox when he wakes once more and she loves him. He names her Karin and, in dreams, she shows her gratitude. He wakes and finds her teeth marks on his shoulders and the marks of her nails down his back.

            Chiriku is worried about him. “Your shadow is not your own,” he says and it is true, for if one were to look at Sasuke’s shadow, they would see not the shadow of a man, but that of a fox.

            Sasuke is not concerned.

            One day, he is sweeping the courtyard when Karin appears from the tree line in the form of the woman with the red hair and dainty black-gloved hands, swathed in a kimono the color of the twilight. He takes her hand and leaves behind his broom.

            Chiriku is unsurprised when he finds Sasuke’s crumpled, empty clothes and spots a black fox running with the red.

 


	84. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru POV

            Sasuke is alone when Shikamaru approaches him. The Uchiha is sitting in the grass on the hill looking over one of the smaller training grounds, watching the clouds roll by. It’s strange to see him like this after all that’s happened. He looks like a lost little kid.

            Doesn’t excuse what he did, though.

            “I’m trying to move on,” Sasuke says, when he sits down next to him. “It’s not easy.”

            Shikamaru grunts and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. He taps them, sniffing the tobacco a little, and takes one out. The smell keeps him grounded.

            “Karin helps,” Sasuke admits, running his hands through the grass. “She’s...”

            Shikamaru nods as the Uchiha trails off. He’s seen the way the two of them look at each other and he has to listen to Ino and Sakura carry on about how romantic it is. Thankfully, they’ve yet to include him in their plans to get the two to admit it.

            “I think I understand what Itachi wanted for me now,” Sasuke says, looking up at the sky. “The future – it’s our responsibility.”

            Shikamaru nods. “As troublesome as it may be.”

            There’s a long silence and Sasuke leans back into the grass, closing his eyes.

            “I think I’ll marry Karin,” Sasuke says, finally. “Maybe have a kid or two.”

            “Tch,” Shikamaru scoffs, looking up at the clouds. “Do you even know what you’re getting into?”

            “Nah, not really,” Sasuke admits. “Who really ever does? But it doesn’t matter, does it?”

            And it doesn’t, not really.

            Shikamaru sighs, glaring at him over his shoulder. “You do realize all the girls are going to want to get hitched when they hear about it.”

            Sasuke grins mischievously, cracking an eyelid to stare at him.

            Shikamaru scowls.

 


	85. Suffering Sappho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU, Sasuke is a girl; bisexual Karin

            “This would be so much easier if I’d have been born a man,” the dark-haired girl moans as she cradles her head in her hands. “I can’t believe this!”

            Karin sighs and pushes up her glasses as she regarded the pacing form of the last sane Uchiha, one Sayu Uchiha, little sister of the lunatic Itachi. It is a common complaint from the dark-haired girl, who knew very well her parents had desired another son, and this is, by no means, the first or last time the Uchiha heiress has lamented the difficult nature of her gender.

            Karin resists the urge to point out that it probably wouldn’t be any easier if the other girl had been born male, though a part of her wonders if Sayu would still be as attractive if she were male or if she’d be more so. The image her mind paints is that of a younger version of Itachi, minus the lines on his face and possessing a lean, masculine build, but retaining the wild dark hair and dark eyes of Sayu. It’s an attractive image.

            Inwardly, Karin groans. Never, ever has any one girl made her question her sexuality more than the criminally hot Uchiha heiress.

            “Karin, what am I supposed to do?” the other girl whines, attempting to pace a hole into the hotel floor. “Suigetsu won’t stop trying to get in my pants and now Juugo has a crush on me! And don’t even get me started on that idiot Uzumaki...”

            It really isn’t so surprising that they were attracted to her. Sayu is a pretty girl with the strong and light build of the ideal kunoichi, something Sayu proudly claims she got from her mother. She’s the kindest, even if she hides it well, never goes back on her word and completely understands the pain Karin endured. There is also this sense of... well, Karin didn’t know how to describe it, but there is a sense about the Uchiha girl that just drew her in like a homing beacon and she has no doubt that it drew in other people, too.

            Small wonder, then, that Karin is in love with the girl, even though she is also attracted to men. That, in and of itself, had been a boggling revelation and Karin’s still not sure what it means about her sexuality.

            “Maybe if you made it clear you’re not interested?” she suggests.

            “I’ve tried,” Sayu moans. “Suigetsu never listens to me and I really don’t want to hurt Juugo’s feelings. He’s such a nice guy.”

            “I think Juugo will understand if you explain it to him honestly,” Karin sighs. “I think he’s just a little mixed up right now.”

            Sayu stops pacing, her fingers drifting to her chest where Kirabi’s attack had hit her, and her face falls. _Because of me,_ the expression on her face says.

            “Suigetsu... He’ll get the hint sooner or later – he’s thickheaded,” Karin adds, sighing. “Really, I know he’s strong, but he’s such an idiot. How many times do you have to hit the guy with Raiton before he gets the hint you’re definitely not interested?”

            Sayu snorts, rolling her eyes as she sits down on the bed next to her. “I don’t know.”

            “He’ll get it eventually,” Karin says, taking off her glasses and putting them on the nightstand. She hugs the other girl, adding, “He’s probably just trying to get a rise out of you.”

            “You’re right,” Sayu says, giving her one of her soft, rare smiles, and kisses her on the cheek. “I needed that. You’re the best, Karin.”

            Karin hums in agreement, burrowing under the covers as she turns off the light, and Sayu joins her under the covers a moment later.

            “Karin,” Sayu says, rolling over so that she is facing Karin.

            “Yeah?” Karin murmurs, almost asleep.

            “I think I’m a lesbian.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBH, Sayu is probably actually _demisexual._ It's just... Karin is a girl, so Sayu makes an assumption.
> 
> Fun fact! Sayu can also be written the same way as Sasuke.


	86. Zoning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shino POV, stockings

            Shino watched as Hinata and Karin sparred lightly under Sakura’s supervision. Nearby, Kiba and Naruto were laughing over a magazine and a few younger kunoichi from the Academy lingered at the edge of the training ground, watching raptly. Sasuke lingered silently next to Shino, his eyes fixed on the red-headed girl. It was far from his typical behavior and, had it been anyone else, Shino would say that Sasuke was certainly leering at the girl.

            Shino adjusted his sunglasses as the spar stopped so Hinata could set aside her coat and Karin took the opportunity to check the hem of her stockings.

            Sasuke leaned forward, smiling a little, and Karin’s hand lingered at the edge, her finger tugging teasingly at the elastic.

            “Absolute Zone,” Shino concluded, raising his eyebrows in surprise. The elusive and perfect ratio of flesh between socks and short skirts – the sensual grade A! And Karin had _mastered_ it.

            Sasuke nodded, sighing happily.

            “You are a lucky man,” Shino said.

            “Oh yes,” Sasuke agreed, nodding.

 


	87. Present

            The kitten is scraggly and pathetic, the right eye a ruined mess of scars against the grey fur.

            Karin holds it in the palms of her hands, a tiny gift.

            Its whiskers bristle as it regards him and then it meows squeakily.

            “Kakashi,” Sasuke decides.

            Karin smiles and kisses him.


	88. Heal Thyself

            “I will not look,” Karin told herself quietly as she deliberately focused on shelving the medicines. “I will not look.”

            Behind her, the bane of her hormones, one Sasuke Uchiha, was lounging shirtless and spread-eagle on the floor as he attempted to change his own bandages.

            “Don’t touch the gauze,” she said, loud enough for him to hear, and tossed another box of it at him blindly as she tried desperately not to peek. It made a soft thwack as it hit something. “Just put more on. You don’t want to remove any clotting agents.”

            He grunted and she could totally imagine how his face looked and how sexy...

            She inwardly cursed her stupid hormones and that stupid sexy Sasuke. Did he even realize how good he looked?

            “Karin,” he said and it was right in her ear – he was right behind her!

            She stiffened, her mind repeating “Do not look, do not look!” But her traitorous neck was already turning and her eyes raising, a blush already on her cheeks.

            “...You have good aim,” he said, a red mark where the box had hit his forehead glaring accusingly at her.

            “You were supposed to catch it, idiot!” she exploded, her face immediately going bright crimson. “And you’re too close! What do you think you’re doing, sneaking up on people like that?”

            He pointed at his forehead. “You have to fix it.”

            “W-what are you? Five?” Karin sputtered, tossing some small band-aids at him.

            “How about you? You’re acting awfully bizarre,” Sasuke said, giving her a mildly concerned look. He brushed the band-aids off his bare shoulders.

            Karin sputtered again, turning away and heading for the doorway. “You’re the one who’s bizarre – running around like that! A girl could get the wrong idea!”

            “Where are you going?” he asked.

            “You are so clueless!” she shouted over her shoulder and slammed the door behind her. She slumped against it and groaned.

            Sasuke’s voice drifted through the door. “What on earth just happened?”

 


	89. About the Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Au, pregnancy fears

            Sasuke can hear Karin’s heartbeat as he rests his head on her chest. Her fingers twine through his hair with an absent, soothing gentleness. His hand lingers on the small but slowly growing curve of her abdomen with cautious reverence.

            “Do you think it will have my eyes?” he asks quietly.

            Karin shifts a little and he wonders if she has that tiny smile she gets when he asks silly things. “Probably, but he’ll definitely have my ability.”

            “That’s not what I meant,” he says.

            The Sharingan is a curse.

            “I know,” she says and kisses his head. “Don’t worry.”


	90. Language of Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ino POV, AU, flower language

            Ino sizes up the red-haired girl in her shop, the one that was the talk of the town, the nigh legendary girl who succeeded where no other girl had and won the heart of Ice Prince Sasuke, last of the Uchiha.

            She didn’t seem like much, but appearances could be deceiving and kunoichi were masters of deceit. It came with the job.

            The girl’s eyes were closed, her hand outstretched as it drifted, and the girl sniffed. Her hand stopped, lingering near the lavender. She opened her eyes and picked a few, before closing her eyes and repeating the procedure. Now, she turned, drifting towards the Palargonium blossoms.

            Strange choices for a floral arrangement, Ino noted, but not so strange for a perfumer. How curious!

            The red-headed girl sighed loudly, taking her selections to the counter, and waited as Ino tallied the cost, looking a little down.

            “Interesting choices,” Ino said, conversationally.

            “It’s not the same,” the girl said, morosely. “It’s missing _him._ ”

            Ino didn’t need to be a mind reader to understand. She ran a finger along the lavender as she wrapped it and then smiled. In Hanakotoba, lavender meant faithful. Sasuke was lucky.

            She paused a moment, drifted out from behind the counter, clipped a white camellia, and returned, handing it to the girl.

            “What?” the girl, startled, asked as she adjusted her glasses.

            “It’s him,” Ino said, dismissively.

            The girl blushed, gathering the wrapped flowers, and paused, a mischievous grin on her lips. “I suppose I should hurry home then, lest he turn into a primrose.”

            Ino blinked as the words sunk in and then burst out laughing. “My mistake – clearly, this is a cactus situation!”

            “More like a red camellia. He’s not always a prick,” the girl chided. The girl’s fingers lingered on the white blossom as she smiled. “You know, you remind me of jasmine and violets.”

            It was Ino’s turn to look surprised.

            “My name is Karin,” the girl said and held out a hand.

 


	91. Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chouji POV, AU, Sasuke has trust issues

            Chouji hears a knock at his door and idly he wonders who it could be. Shikamaru wouldn’t go wandering in this weather and Ino was off with the other girls today – something about girl stuff. He opens the door and his eyes widen in surprise as he takes in the soaking wet form of the erstwhile former member of Team Seven.

            “Sasuke?”

            “Hey,” the Uchiha says, his hands crammed in his pockets. “I need a favor and I can’t ask anyone else about this.”

            Chouji, puzzled, opens the door wide. “What’s up?”

            Sasuke runs a hand through his hair, trying to brush the water out a little as he steps inside. “I want to learn how to make okonomiyaki.”

            Ages ago, Chouji would have been offended – and still was, just a little – at the implication that he knew everything about food because of his clan and his build, but time and patience tells him the other boy is not done yet.

            “It’s...” Sasuke makes a strange face, like he doesn’t want to say why.

            Chouji makes a quiet ‘oh.’ “For your girlfriend, right? For Karin?”

            Sasuke stiffens, crossing his arms guardedly and he knows he’s guessed right.

            “Have you considered taking her to a restaurant?” Chouji asks. “Girls like that kind of thing.”

            Sasuke’s shoulders drop as he shakes his head. “I wish I could, but you’ve probably seen how they look at us. I can’t...” Sasuke shakes his head again, sadly, and then looks up, smiling a little as he adds, “Besides, I kind of want to surprise her and it’ll be more special if I can make her favorite for her myself, right?”

            For a moment, Chouji thinks of suggesting he can pull some strings with his clan restaurants and get the poor couple in to somewhere nice for the kind of date girls always say they want.

            “I trust you,” Sasuke says, honestly, and the idea shatters because it’s Sasuke and he never says he trusts anyone unless he really _means_ it. “You’re the best cook out of all the Rookie Nine. If anyone can teach me how to do it right, it’s you. I mean, look at who I used to work with! Naruto can burn _water_ and Sakura’s cooking is classified as poison in three nations.”

            Chouji sighs and rubs his forehead. “You are going to owe me for this, Sasuke.”

            “It’s worth it,” Sasuke says, immediately relaxing, “To see her happy.”

            Chouji closes his eyes for a moment and claps his hands together as he focuses. “So, Karin’s favorite is okonomiyaki? Which style?”

            Sasuke stares at him blankly and Chouji sighs.

            “You are _really_ going to owe me for this, Sasuke.”

 


	92. Alternate Tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the Sasuke is the Kyuubi jinchuuriki AU

            There’s a strange boy in the village. Karin has been hearing whispers about him all morning. They say he’s pretty but scary, wandering around with the eerie look of a living ghost. They think something must have happened to him – his clothes are ripped and torn, his bare feet bloody – but they’re afraid to get close.

            It’s odd, but Karin brushes it off. There are a lot of refugees running around these days and she knows better than to ask questions or go looking for trouble when she’s got chores to do. The flowers and herbs they need at the shop won’t pick themselves and they need to make quota if the village wants to afford protection from the army. They are already behind as it is and the situation’s made her increasingly uneasy as the deadline approaches.

            She is well into her work when a shadow drifts across her and all she can feel is an overwhelming spot of despair to the point of numbness. It swallows up everything in its magnitude, even the uneasy feeling that’s been growing in her gut for weeks.

            Immediately, she knows it is the boy that everyone is talking about. It’s hard not to – everyone in the village knew each other and this boy is a complete stranger to her. He is about her age, maybe, with a face that hints to the handsome sort of man he will become, but it’s currently thin and pale as though he hasn’t eaten in days. His hair is black and sticks up like mad in the back, hanging long in front and there are the strangest set of marks on his face, like he’s been clawed by an animal. He stands, numbly looking out at something in the distance through dark, dazed eyes and she thinks lost is the only way to describe the overall sense he gives her.

            Something happened to him, something horrible.

            She looks at his bloody feet, scratched legs and torn clothing, and thinks he probably walked here from somewhere far away. The red and white fan on his back is a clan symbol she’s completely unfamiliar with.

            “You’re hurt,” she says suddenly and he turns his head, gaze blank and unseeing. She fidgets, adjusting her glasses, and adds, “Your feet – they’re bleeding. I can treat them if you’d like.”

            He says nothing and she sighs, taking his hand and guiding him to the river. He doesn’t protest at all, not even when she begins to wash the dirt and blood from his feet, and she sort of feels like she’s guiding a life-sized doll. The wounds, once clean, hiss and spit with strange red chakra before quickly healing and disappearing, but the boy takes no notice.

            “Did you do that?” she asks, even though she suspects he won’t answer.

            He raises his head a little, seemingly seeing her for the first time, and she only gets a fleeting sense of something other than numbness from him before its gone and he’s blank again.

            Karin sighs, running a hand through her hair, and then tugs him to his feet. She knows she can’t very well leave him here. It just wouldn’t be right. “Come on,” she says, “You can stay with me.”

            He follows her, the blank expression in his dark eyes never lifting.

            Her parents don’t want him, of course. They think he’s bad luck and they won’t be moved no matter now many times she explains that he’s just hurting inside. She fights with them and ends up dragging him to her room anyway – she’s always been stubborn and she’s not letting the poor guy starve to death in his grief, so her parents will just have to deal with it and they do. They don’t comment when she borrows her father’s old clothes or orders the boy to bathe, or even when they find the boy curled up in a ball at the foot of her bed, shaking and murmuring in his sleep.

            Karin sleeps and dreams of hot, red chakra whipping with fury and confusion around the sobbing boy as an older, dying boy shields him from something terrible. It then violently shifts to an army marching steadily closer, their footfalls like thunder in the distance. She wakes with a scream and she can still feel the army moving ever closer, even as the boy stares at her in a sleepy sort of surprise and her parents come running into the room.

            “Something’s coming,” she tells them, frightened beyond words, “Something terrible.”

            In the morning, she finds the boy some of her father’s old shoes to wear and drags him with her to the hills. Her nightmare hasn’t left her and she can’t shake off the sensation of growing danger approaching. It’s making her anxious, like she needs to run away as fast as she can before it gets her, and the hills are far enough from the town that she supposes she can get some work done, try to shake off that horrid feeling and relax a little. “You need to earn your keep if you’re to stay,” she explains when they arrive and shows him what flowers she’s supposed to be gathering. He freezes in place when she offers him the simple gardening kunai, his lips and face going white.

            “You were a ninja, weren’t you?” she asks, pulling her hand away. “I always thought they were older.”

            The boy lowers his head, dark bangs falling into his eyes.

            “It’s okay. A little surprising, but okay,” she says, nodding. “I’ll do the cutting. You can help me by tying them into bundles.”

            They easily fall into a comfortable rhythm with each other, but she is unable to shake the feeling that something bad is coming. It gnaws at her, stabs her like knives.

            She passes the next bunch to him, but stops when she realizes he hasn’t noticed and looks at him curiously. He’s staring in the direction of the village, his body utterly still, all the muscles tense, and she feels something sharp and burning rising up from under his skin as his eyes turn red, spinning with flecks of black, and the lines on his face thicken.

            “They’re being attacked,” he says, his voice hoarse and creaking from disuse.

            “The army, no!” Karin hisses, surging forward, flowers forgotten. It wasn’t worry that was making her feel this way at all – it was her people dying that she was feeling!

            His hand catches her arm, impossibly strong, and she feels the pinpricks of his sharp nails as they bite into her flesh. He shakes his head and she feels a terrible, sad sort of empathy in him.

            “Let me go! There’s still time! My family –“ she shouts and tries to hit him, kick him, anything to make him let go. His grip is too strong and, instead, he folds her into an embrace, allowing her to continue pounding her fist against his chest until she dissolved into sobs.

            “If you’d like,” he croaks out, shakily, “I could kill the ones who did this.”

            She hits him again, weakly.

            “Say the word and I will avenge you. I have known no other life. I’ve been a weapon since birth, an avenger since the murder of my clan,” he says, lost and strange sounding. “...And I have nothing left to avenge. The man I killed turned out to be my greatest protector. Even the monster sealed in me has no answer as to where I should turn my path.”

            She hears him but she doesn’t understand, not really, because it hurts too much right now and she wants to die because she feels every death like a wound to her heart. So, she clings to him with her free hand, sobbing into his borrowed shirt, and he holds her close enough that she feels the ghostly connection to something _not him_.

            “We should go before they send search parties this way,” he says, and she lets him guide her away.

 


	93. Never Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NARUTO PLZ, hilarity ensues

            Naruto was utterly resolved in his course of action. He was going to kick Madara’s ass, seal up the whoozy-whatsis thingy, beat up and rescue Sasuke, save the world, and get the girl. Not necessarily in that order, but he’d always been a rather fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of guy and, so far, his unpredictability and tenacity were really the only things keeping him ahead of Madara. Indeed, it was a testament to the insane luck he possessed that he’d managed to avoid almost every attempt to bait him and capture him, including that rather ingenious All-You-Can-Eat Ramen contest, and was now confidently sneaking into the Big Bad’s Moon Base. Of course, knowing Madara, there was a back-up trap around here somewhere. Evil masterminds always had one, even if it was just a self-destruct device.

            Warily, he snuck out of the air vents, checked for the typical evil ninja mastermind traps and started down the hallway. Conveniently, there was a map posted on the wall at the first intersection he came to. If he wanted to do some real damage, he’d have to head for Sewage Overflow. For some reason, maps in evil mastermind bases tended to be mislabeled – hell, Sasuke’s room at Orochimaru’s base was apparently listed as Incinerator Room. Come to think of it, was there an Incinerator Room on here?

            Naruto narrowed his eyes at the map. Ah, there wasn’t, but the furnace in Storage Room B looked promising. Well, if it turned out Sasuke was there, he’d get on with the beating him up and rescuing him and if he wasn’t, there were other things Naruto could do to make trouble. Thoroughly pleased with his plan, Naruto strode off down the hallway leading to Storage Room B.

            The door was rather plain and unassuming and it wasn’t even locked or trapped in some fashion – not even a basic one to even make an attempt. Then again, it was a base on the moon and not just any ninja could warp themselves to the moon. Unfortunately for Madara, Naruto was not just any ninja. Really, the poor guy had no idea what he was up against. With that thought in mind, Naruto opened the door and stared, his jaw dropping open.

            A more than half-naked Sasuke and the red-headed girl he was traveling with stared back at him from across the box-filled room in complete shock. He’d apparently interrupted something that was right out of Icha Icha Tactics. Then the girl screamed and Sasuke dove for his cloak, quickly pulling it over them for modesty’s sake.

            “Wh-what the hell are you doing?!” Naruto sputtered, pointing wildly at them.

            “None of your business, moron!” Sasuke shouted, red-faced. “How the hell did you find us?!”

            Naruto sputtered some more – man, how had Sasuke managed to score before he did? Man, Naruto hadn’t even gotten to first base with the girl of his dreams yet. “I wasn’t here looking for you – well, I was, but it’s more of defeat the Big Bad, ruin nefarious scheming and...”

            Priorities, he told himself, mentally trying to keep it together, but in the face of this? It was like the world just tipped on its axis.

            “Well, you can _un-find_ us right _now_!” Sasuke practically growled, throwing a shoe at Naruto’s head.

            “This is really not how I pictured this rescue going,” Naruto whined, dodging the shoe. “We were supposed to trade insults, fight for a bit, I’d beat you up and then we’d all go home for a big happy reunion.”

            The redheaded girl was looking thoroughly murderous as she handed Sasuke his sword.

            “And I gotta ask, is she your wife or something? Because, I mean, you’re _you_ and you’ve never seemed like the type to ever have premarital sex.” Really, Naruto felt like a complete fool saying this, but the concept of what Sasuke and the girl had been doing when he opened the door was kind of the equivalent of realizing that Iruka might have a sex life, only worse, since there was concrete proof right in front of him. And while Sasuke was his best friend, there were some things Naruto was fine never seeing about his friend’s life and this was one of those things.

            “GET OUT!” Sasuke screeched, this time punctuating it with a blade-like lance of lightning chakra.

            Naruto’s body puffed into smoke and many miles away, the real Naruto promptly winced and decided rescuing Sasuke would be best left for last. Hopefully, by then Sasuke and his wife or whatever she was would have calmed down a bit.


	94. Artistic Vision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SAI PLZ

            “I want to sketch you both,” Sai announces.

            Sasuke gives him a look that plainly says he wants to punch him in the face and Karin blushes bright red as she huffs indignantly.

            “Why on earth would you want to do such a thing?” the girl asks, pushing up her glasses.

            “I am curious,” Sai explains simply. “You have a visual intensity.”

            Sasuke raises an eyebrow and looks away. “We don’t have time for this.”

            “Indulge me,” Sai says. “I’ll let you keep the drawing if it’s to your liking.”

            Sasuke rolls his eyes, but Karin looks a little more interested and tugs on his sleeve insistently. “It could be fun,” she whispers.

            “Fine,” Sasuke relents. “Where do you want us?”

            Sai waves his arm. “Just act natural.”

            Sasuke blinks.

            Karin blinks.

            And Sai immediately regrets suggesting it since they’re standing so awkwardly and looking so confused that their natural contrasts and similarities are obscured. “This will not do. Lose your clothing.”

            Karin immediately turns red and shouts, “EXCUSE ME?!”

            Sasuke’s Sharingan blazes to life, lightning crackling around his entire body. “I will kill you.”

            “Perfect!” Sai shouts happily as he starts sketching. “Hold it!”

            Their confusion buys him just enough time to finish the sketch before both decide to beat him up anyway.

            Two weeks later, when he’s finally out of the hospital, he gives them the finished drawing.

            He names it “Ardor.”

 


	95. Empty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the sad ending/Karin dies AU; mention of blood, trauma

            Sasuke drinks in silence at the bar in a seedy, smoke-filled pub, the half-empty bottle of sake within easy reach. He drinks slowly, the sake bitter and burning, and refills his cup with an almost mechanical movement.

            The bartender, an ex-ninja, ignores him and tends to other, livelier customers. He’d taken one look at the weary, bedraggled jounin and left the bottle without a word. Sasuke likes this one for precisely that reason. No questions about _why_ or attempts to pry into his business, just a knowing, leaden look and a bottle of strong sake.

            He drinks and drinks, glass after glass, but he’s not drunk yet and he certainly has not forgotten. He thinks it’s a little ironic that he used to believe Tsunade was an idiot for drinking like this, but he knows better now. Sober, the pain from the raw, gaping hole in heart is more than he can bear. The alcohol is the only thing that dulls the pain.

            Sasuke closes his eyes and remembers Karin’s smile, the red hair tangled in his fingers, the long curve of her pale neck and the chubby, smiling face of their son. He remembers the red locks dampened in pooling blood, arterial spray painting the wall and the blank horror reflected in the eyes of his shaking child. He pours another cup before the pain leaves him in tears again and bites back a grimace as he swallows it. He never should have left. He was such a fool.

            “So this is where you’ve been hiding,” Naruto’s voice is calm, sober and disappointed.

            Sasuke ignores him.

            “You can’t keep doing this, Sasuke,” Naruto says and frowns, taking the bottle away. “You’re going to kill yourself if you keep this up.”

            “Maybe I want to die,” Sasuke replies and means it. They won’t let him, of course, and it’s not for lack of trying.

            “Karin wouldn’t want you to do this to yourself,” Naruto responds.

            Sasuke snorts bitterly and stares into his cup. As if that blond idiot would know what Karin wanted! No one knew her like Sasuke did. “What would you know?”

            Naruto runs a hand through his hair in frustration and sighs, “Look, you at least owe it to her to _try_ and live - if not for her, then at least for your kid’s sake. He needs his father.”

            There’s a painful, long silence. Sasuke attempts to signal the bartender, but Naruto signals him to cut the jounin off.

            “It’s all my fault,” Sasuke says at last, brokenly, and he thinks of his son, now mute with terror, the beeping hospital machines, and his wife’s bloodied corpse staring back at him from the floor of their house.

            Naruto doesn’t say anything, lowering his eyes and looking away. He stands, setting down the bottle again. “Blaming yourself won’t stop the one who did this,” he says coldly. “Come back when you’re ready to be a man and do something about it.”

            Sasuke pours himself another cup, not responding as he raises it to his lips, and Naruto turns to leave. He waits until he hears the door to the pub slam and then, slowly, he puts the glass down.

            “Karin,” Sasuke whispers and buries his face in his hands, sobbing brokenly.

 


	96. Rough Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same non massacre universe as 16, 36, 56, and 76, SASUKE PLZ

            Sasuke is fourteen and a half. This will be his second attempt at the chuunin exams and he aims to pass this time. Already, several of his peers have advanced in rank, including Sakura, and Sasuke refuses to let them leave him behind. But, then again, he knows he’d needed the extra time away to help deal with the horrific losses that had befallen his clan during Orochimaru’s attack. He’d been an utter wreck afterwards and his clan needed him to help with the reconstruction, so he isn’t able to begrudge Sakura for doing what she needed to and filling in for Shikamaru on Team Ten.

            He sighs as he leans over the rails of the bridge. Naruto isn’t going to be joining him for this one either. The blond idiot is off on a training journey with Jiraiya, trying to get that, well, weird chakra of his under control, so Sasuke is getting shuffled onto a team with Chouji, the only member of Team Ten that had yet to pass, and some prodigy out of the Academy.

            Sasuke frowns at his reflection in the water, which is looking more and more like his older brother’s every day, and tries not to think about how this doesn’t feel right going into the test without Naruto or Sakura. As his brother would say, it’s not about his friends, it’s about complimentary abilities. Sasuke has a bit of a gift as a tactician – he’s nowhere near as good as Shikamaru, but good enough – and Chouji’s gift lies in his musclepower, so he figures the third member they’re being saddled with has to be some form of support ninja.

            The sounds of footsteps on the bridge make him raise his head. It’s a girl with a familiar face, one he hasn’t seen for over a year, not since just after Orochimaru’s invasion when they were looking for survivors in the border villages the insane old man had razed in his retreat. She is out of breath and panting as she stops near him, her red hair flopping in her face as she adjusts her glasses and asks, “Is this the meeting place for Team Seven?”

            “Yeah,” he says, blinking a little. She looks different, but maybe it’s because she’s no longer covered in dust and bruises with a broken leg. What was her name again? He’s sure it starts with a K – Karin! That’s what it was. “Karin, right? Do you remember me? I was on the team that rescued you.”

            “Yes, I remember,” she says, blushing a little as she fiddles with her glasses. She schools her face and adds, “You’ve grown a little.”

            Sasuke resists the urge to comment about how different she seems from the girl he’d carried on his back and idly wonders if she’s become another one of his fangirls, like so many other girls have. “So you’re the prodigy they told me about? I didn’t think you’d join the...”

            “I needed the money,” Karin says sharply, her arms immediately crossing over her chest, and he knows he’s touched a raw nerve. “And I’ve got a talent for tracking. It’d be foolish to waste it.”

            Sasuke nods, but inwardly he’s got a feeling she’s not really ready for this exam and both he and Chouji are going to spend the whole time defending her. It’s going to be really troublesome to manage.

            “Don’t,” she says suddenly, the pitch sharp, and he stares at her livid face in complete confusion. She glares at him, unmoved, and levels an accusing finger at his face. “I know what you’re thinking! I’m not some kind of useless baggage, damn you!”

            “I didn’t-“ Sasuke starts, utterly bewildered. He’s sure he hadn’t said a word of what he’d been thinking out loud. Could she read minds or something?

            “Your chakra doesn’t lie, idiot!” she says, “I don’t care how nice or cute you are, I refuse to be underestimated!”

            “My chakra -?” Sasuke manages, blinking.

            “I’m going to go do my paperwork,” Karin huffs angrily and stomps off, pausing only to loudly shout back, “And don’t you dare follow me! I’ll _know_ the second your chakra moves from this spot!”

            “You can sense...” he trails off, narrowing his eyes on her retreating back. Oh, now _that_ is certainly interesting.

            “Oi, Sasuke,” Chouji’s voice calls from behind him. “Was that our teammate for the exam?”

            He nods, mulling over the words again as the other boy approaches. Could she really be that good at sensing chakra? She has to be. No one is accelerated through the Academy like that without _really_ good reason.

            “Are you okay, Sasuke?” Chouji asks, looking a little concerned. “You’ve got one of those scary looks...”

            “Interesting, _very_ interesting,” Sasuke smiles and claps his former classmate on the shoulder. “Chouji, I think I know how we’re going to pass this exam. I have a plan.”

            “Should I be frightened?” Chouji asks.

            “Don’t be silly,” Sasuke chides and starts forward. “Come on, we’ve got a teammate to catch up to.”

            “Are you sure? She looked kind of mad at you,” Chouji gives him a concerned look. “What on earth did you say to her?”

            “Nothing. She’ll get over it, I’m sure.”

            Later, Chouji would comment to the amused members of Team Ten that Sasuke getting slapped by Karin had only served to make him more interested in the obstinate redhead than he was before. The betting pool on when Sasuke and the new girl would officially hook up started shortly thereafter.

 


	97. Live

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the Sasuke dies AU

            Karin is afraid he’s leaving. Not physically, but mentally and the difference between the two extremes is what’s really scary. She’s able to deal with him leaving her behind physically – she knows she’s not strong and he doesn’t like putting her in danger – and it makes sense. But mentally, that’s another story. The more distant his gaze becomes and the darker his chakra gets, the more afraid for him she gets and it eats her up inside because it’s all happening too fast, far too fast and it doesn’t make sense at all.

            He lies before her, cold and pale as death, and she gets a bad feeling in her gut that he’ll leave soon, probably for good, and the next time she’ll see him, no amount of her healing will be able to pull him from death’s grasp again.

            So, she kisses him, because she’s impulsive and scared she’ll never get another chance.

            His eyelids flutter and he steals the very breath from her lips to whisper her name, questioning even as his lips brush the syllables of her name against hers.

            It’s the first time they’re alone in a long time and, after all that can be said is said, it’s just silence, the empty realm of boxes, and the taste of his lips on hers.

            “What will happen to me if you don’t come back?” she asks, because he’s told her he has a plan and that he wants her to be safe and hide while he handles the rest from here.

            “Nothing will happen to me,” Sasuke says. “You know me – I’m not weak.”

            “Even so, I’d like to know,” Karin responds, because she can feel that dread feeling in her gut that it’s all ending.

            Sasuke frowns, his gaze unfocused and it bothers her because it’s happening more often. “If I die, find Juugo and Suigetsu and run as far as you can. Find somewhere safe and hide. Don’t even wait to find out if it’s true or not. I’d rather have to go and find you than come back to find you dead.”

            “I want to stay,” she whispers. “But I don’t know if I can stand to watch as I lose my precious person again.”

            He stares at her, wide-eyed and blushing, and she puts her hand on his.

            “Kiss me,” she says, “For luck.”

            It’s clumsy and sloppy and she knows it’s not all because he’s new to this – she’s noticed something off with his depth perception and she knows he’s worried, so she hasn’t said anything. And then his fingers are feather-light on her neck and his kisses have become hungrier, more intense and it’s all happening so fast, so very fast as her cloak and his shirt fall to the wayside.

            He pauses suddenly, blushing brighter than ever, and quietly admits, “I don’t know what to do next.”

            “We’ll learn,” Karin smiles, kissing him, “Together.”

            And they do.

            When Madara arrives some time later, Sasuke convinces him to leave Karin in Wave Country in exchange for accepting his brother’s eyes. Before he disappears with the crazy elder, he reminds her of what she must do if he should fail and makes her promise to do as he’s told her, despite the ache in her heart and body.

            So, Karin waits and listens as the days turn into weeks and anxiety churns her stomach, until at last the rumors have confirmed her worst fears. She packs her gear and leaves the very next day, even though it hurts to the point of illness. She’ll mourn later. She’s shed enough tears already and Sasuke would never forgive her if she didn’t keep her promise to him.

            She owes him that and so much more.

            She makes a new promise, too: it’s a promise to herself that she’ll live for him and for the sake of his legacy.

            It’s what he would want and she’s never been able to deny him what he wants, even now.

 


	98. Obstinate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stubborn dad!Sasuke, futurefic, ocs mentioned

            Karin finds Sasuke sitting on the porch with his head in his hands. “What’s wrong?”

            He grunts, running his hands through his graying hair as he raises his head, and lets out a heavy, despondent sigh. “Our son hates me,” he says.

            “What?” she asks, bewildered. “Rinji? He adores you.”

            Sasuke shakes his head and sighs again. “He hates me. That much is obvious. Why else would he be in such a rush to join that idiot’s family?”

            Karin sighs and rolls her eyes as she sits down next to him. She neglects to remind him that technically it is her extended family, too, albeit too distantly to quantify with any certainty. “What happened?”

            “We were just talking,” Sasuke says and she doesn’t need her ability to see how upset he is. His tone screams frustration and anger, but his posture is weary and closed off as if it were an inward issue. “He said he wanted to marry the idiot’s daughter and I said all right. And then he said he wanted to join her family book and I asked why, but he insisted. We started arguing and I...”

            Sasuke pauses, shaking his head and closing his eyes. With another heavy sigh, he finishes lamely, “I fucked up. I fucked up, big time. He’ll probably never speak to me again.”

            “I’m sure it’s not that bad –“ Karin starts, a steady hand on his shoulder.

            “I called him Itachi.”

            “Oh,” Karin says, pulling back her hand.

            It’s always been one of those things they skirted around with their eldest son. For the longest time, Rinji has preferred to wear his hair long in a similar manner to his long-deceased uncle and, graced with Sasuke’s features, he is easily able to pass for a younger Itachi. That resemblance has haunted Sasuke and, in a way, she’s glad their younger son and the girls take more after her. A slip-up like this has always been one of Sasuke’s big fears because he knows that Rinji worries he’s just a replacement for Itachi.

            “Yeah, you definitely fucked up,” Karin says, sighing.

            “It just slipped out,” Sasuke moves his hands in a helpless, frustrated gesture. “I didn’t even mean to say it, but he’s... he just looked so much like him and even sounded like him and I... I wasn’t even thinking!” He pauses, sighing again, and shakes his head: “I’m such an idiot.”

            “It sounds like it was an accident,” Karin tells him. “Did you apologize?”

            Sasuke’s face fell. “I tried... he stormed out. I’ve never seen him so mad with me. He looked like I’d _hit_ him, Karin. I’m a horrible father.”

            Karin sighs again and gets to her feet, reaching down to tug at his hands. “Come on, get up.”

            “What are you doing?” he asks, bewildered.

            “You’re coming with me and you’re going to stop wallowing in your guilt and apologize to your son, you great idiotic chicken-shit,” Karin says firmly, tugging.

            That one vein in Sasuke’s jaw bulges like it always does when he’s being a stubborn ass and he shakes his head, protesting, “But Karin, he hates me! And he should! I practically called him a replacement for my brother! What kind of father does that?”

            “You said it yourself – you were arguing,” she points out, “And people go too far when they argue all the time. It happens. Stop beating yourself up over a stupid fight! You’re a good man and a good father, but you’re only human.”

            Sasuke groans in frustration, turning his head away. “But Karin...”

            “Stop being stubborn,” she commands archly.

            “I am not being stubborn,” Sasuke snaps, sulkily. “It’s just pointless. Rinji’s not going to forgive me – _he’s_ the stubborn one.”

            Karin puts her hands on her hips and frowns. “Well, now I know where he gets it from – you’re both being stubborn asses!”

            This time it’s Sasuke who stares, eyes wide.

            Karin pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. “I love you, but you’re both acting like idiots.”

            “If he’d just told me _why_ he doesn’t want to be a part of our family anymore, instead of dodging the issue,” Sasuke grumbles, “I wouldn’t have gotten so mad.”

            Karin shakes her head. “What did he say?”

            “Something about the future,” Sasuke says, waving his hand, “I don’t know. He was being vague.”

            Karin laughs then and her husband stares at her, a frustrated frown on his face. She smiles, leaning down and kissing him on the forehead. “You know, for a genius, you can be remarkably thick sometimes, Sasuke.”

            His frown deepens, just like it always does.

            “He probably doesn’t want his kids to be teased because of their family name,” she explains. “Remember how he and Kadou would get teased? The girls never got it quite so bad – they had each other to fall back on, but the boys got the worst of it. If Rinji joins the Uzumaki family book, his children will be Uzumaki and no one would dare tease them – they respect Naruto too much.”

            Sasuke’s frown dissipates slowly into a sad sort of resignation and he gently takes her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. He’s quiet for a few unbearable minutes and then he quietly speaks, “I always worried that what... _I_ did would never be forgotten and that people might take it out on my family, but I wanted to be with you, to have a family. And I turned a blind eye to what that meant, because as long as I had you and the kids, I could – _we_ could handle it, as a family and we could make the Uchiha name mean something good again. But I’ve always known, even just a little, that maybe it was better to let that name just disappear.”

            “Sasuke,” she whispers, her face falling because she knows how much his name means to him.

            “Rinji will always be our son, Karin,” Sasuke says, firmly. “Just as Kadou and the twins will always be our children, no matter what name they may choose to carry. I don’t mind being the Last Uchiha, if it means my grandchildren will avoid pain. I just want them to be happy.”

            Karin gives him a watery, happy smile and kisses him softly as she sinks into his arms. They sit in silence, folded in an embrace for a while.

            “Sasuke,” Karin mumbles, “You still have to apologize to him.”

            Sasuke groans theatrically. “Don’t remind me.”

 


	99. Next generation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Old!Sasuke is basically Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino; futurefic, multiple OCs

            Sasuke curses as he peers through the bottommost lenses of his trifocals to read the pill box. Eternal Mangekyou, yeah right – sure, he still was able to see and could turn people’s minds into split pea soup if he liked, but eternal? Not so much. It seemed that his Sharingan may be still be good, but the rest of him was suffering the human condition known as ‘getting old,’ a luxury few ninja had ever lived to enjoy, much less ninja of his rather colorful reputation.

            He frowns at the box as he empties the morning’s pills in his hand. He has no idea what half the bloody things are for and there are so many of them, but he takes them anyway and tries to ignore the age spots on his hands.

            Behind him, Karin sits at the table, as she’s done every Sunday morning for years now, and reads the paper.

            He sighs, looking out the window as he puts the pill box down, and then frowns as he sees the distinct shape of children on the lawn. “Karin, those darn kids are back again.”

            “That’s probably because it’s your grandchildren,” she says, turning the page. “They always visit on Sundays, remember?”

            Sasuke grumbles, taking off his reading glasses, and puts on his other pair of glasses. He looks again and sees that, indeed, the three children picking their way through his traps are his grandchildren, the kids of his eldest son, Rinji. “I hate getting old,” he mumbles as he puts the reading glasses in his pocket.

            And he does, really. He hates forgetting simple things, the way his joints creak when he moves, and having to lean on a cane because his old injuries ache more than usual. He hates having to switch glasses just to read the damn pill box and the ungodly number of pills he has to take. He hates the wrinkles, the age spots and that his hair is now a rather solid grey.

            His children are grown now, all four of them out of the house and off on their own. His second child, Kadou, shows no signs of quitting his off-duty skirt chasing and settling down, not that his teammates would let him. The twins, Ariko and Kawori, are on-again, off-again in love with guys in their departments. Heck, even Sasuke’s first genin squad and their kids are all grown up now, living lives of their own. It’s weird having them all gone. The house seems so much emptier without them.

            Idly, he wonders when he got so used to the noise.

            There’s a polite knock and Karin puts down her paper to get the door while Sasuke shuffles to the table and sits down, wincing as his knee aches sharply.

            The first through the door is the oldest, Tsubaki and she greets him politely, but distantly. She looks a bit like Karin used to, save for the dark Uchiha eyes she possesses, and the distinct shape of her face that screams of her mother’s line. He likes her – she reminds him of Itachi, a little – and he tells her to help herself to the jutsu scrolls in the other room. Maybe when she’s physically ready for it, he’ll let her have some of the more advanced ones. She’s still just a kid, genius or not.

            The next through the door is Hasuka, who looks so much like Sakura it’s frightening. And yet, he’s got a funny feeling that under her looks, she’s inherited something of Karin. It’s a suspicion he’s had for a while and he snorts when she hugs him, smiling a little as she tells him it’s to ‘cheer him up.’ Only Rinji and his little sister Ariko, both having inherited Karin’s talents, ever had a chance of reading his moods, and he thinks, maybe, he’ll tell them his suspicions about his granddaughter’s ability if they stop requesting the Hokage to assign genin to fix up his house. Damn it, he’s old, not an invalid and he doesn’t want those idiot genin messing with his damn house.

            Then again, Karin probably already knows about it. She’s still as sharp as she ever was, or maybe Sasuke’s just aging badly.

            The last inside is his youngest and only grandson, Minoru, and he gives Sasuke a wide grin. Sasuke looks at him and sees his oldest son’s face as it was years ago, but Minoru’s eyes are different, green instead of dark grey. His grandson, in many ways, is too much like Naruto for comfort, what with his habit of wearing orange, the boisterous, energetic nature and mischievous streak. In other ways, Sasuke sees himself in Minoru as he once was, back when he wanted to prove he wasn’t just Itachi’s little brother, and it pains him a little to know Minoru is struggling to get out of Naruto’s rather lengthy shadow.

            Karma, indeed, Sasuke thinks, and beckons the boy to come closer. “My leg is not what it used to be,” he explains, ruefully. “And I could use some air.”

            His bones creak painfully as he stands, letting his grandson think he’s helped him up, and he leans heavily on his cane as they move slowly towards the door.

            “There’s a genin squad coming in a while,” Hasuka tells him and Karin nods absently, making a hand sign for fifteen minutes out.

            Plenty of time, then, Sasuke thinks and lets Minoru guide him onto the front porch. He sits down, grunting as his joints creak again, and pulls out a scroll. A little blood, a little chakra and a small arsenal is at his side. “You remember where the traps are, right, grandson?”

            Minoru nods.

            “Well, they need to be reset. Get on with it.”

            And like a monkey, the boy is off, scrambling nimbly up the side of the house to rig the first set of launchers. Sasuke watches, envious of the nimble grace of youth he no longer possesses, and pipes up with the occasional correction. No grandchild of his will ever be accused of stringing together a piss-poor trap and Minoru takes to the exercise like a duck to water. When it is all done, the boy swings down from the tree near the roof and unsteadily lands on the porch. He runs over and sits down, giving Sasuke a thousand-watt smile. Sasuke ruffles the boy’s hair affectionately and settles in to wait for the genin squad.

            “Grandfather?” Minoru pipes up, questioningly. “Do you think I can be Hokage?”

            “Don’t see why not,” Sasuke says with a grunt and watches as the genin squad appears, pale and shaking with horror. The reputation of his being a nightmare D-rank client has obviously preceded him. “But you don’t want it, not really.”

            “That’s not –“ Minoru protests and the first explosion cuts him off.

            “Everyone sees you as the grandson of the sixth, right?” Sasuke asks candidly and uses his cane to flip a hidden switch on the walkway. Shuriken and kunai rain down on the yard from the trees. “You want to be seen as yourself, not just as his grandson. The Hokage is the strongest, but exists as one who puts the needs of the village above their own. The position of Hokage doesn’t belong to those with selfish reasons.”

            Minoru looks down, obviously hurt.

            Sasuke sighs. He’s always been hard on children, but this is his grandson and his grandson’s dream is to be Hokage. It’s something he can’t just crush and Karin would _never_ forgive him if he crushed his grandkid’s dream. Maybe... maybe an old fogy like him can help somehow.

            The genin trying to weed the lawn dodge several timed exploding tags and he idly notes they’re getting more nimble, which is probably why the current Hokage hasn’t lectured him for putting so many genin in the hospital. Karin and their eldest son, on the other hand, aren’t nearly as pleased with his idea of a crash course in trap disarmament.

            “Did I ever tell you that Naruto used to do pranks as a kid?” Sasuke asks, smiling.

            Minoru perks up, immediately interested, “Really?”

            “Oh yeah,” Sasuke says, nodding. “He was pretty good at it, too.”

            One of the genin screams and drops to the walkway, their jacket on fire.

            “Just roll around on the ground a bit! You’ll be fine!” Sasuke shouts, harrumphing. Kids these days – honestly, it was just a little fire! “What was I saying again?”

            “You were telling me about how Grandpa Naruto played pranks,” Minoru says helpfully.

            “Oh yes,” Sasuke pauses, reflecting. They had been so young once. “Things were different back then and he was a sneaky little bastard. He wanted everyone to look at him, so he did pranks. After a while, he didn’t get caught so much but everyone knew he’d been behind them. Eventually, he stopped, but he didn’t mean to, not at first. He was just doing what he had to do to protect his precious people. And then people started to see him, not as some kid, but as a man, you understand?”

            Another explosion goes off and he adds: “If you want to be Hokage, that’s what you’ve got to do. Get them to see you as a man.”

            Minoru chews his lip a little and bows his head as he thinks about it.

            “Hey,” Sasuke says and, as soon as the boy raises his head, he pokes him in the middle of his forehead with two fingers, just like Itachi used to do.

            “Ow,” Minoru whines, rubbing his forehead.

            “No moping. You’re a kid. You’ve got a long time before you need to grow up,” he says, chidingly. Sasuke then laughs a little, idly aware he’s scared the genin in the yard senseless, and gives his grandson a mischievous look. “We should play a prank on Naruto.”

            Minoru’s eyes widen comically as he dons a surprised expression. “Are you serious?”

            “Pranks teach good ninja skills,” Sasuke says sagely. “Deception, subterfuge, infiltration and stealth – it’s very good training.”

            Minoru scrunches up his face in thought. “What are we gonna do?”

            “Your grandfather has a plan,” Sasuke says and beckons him closer. “Gotta cut your hair for it to work, though. Turn around.”

            “Cut my hair?” Minoru asks, scooting closer and turning around. “How’s that gonna help?”

            Sasuke picks up a kunai and gathers the start of the ponytail his grandson’s sporting in one hand. “The best tricks are ones based in something real,” he says, gently sawing away the black locks. He works fast and as soon as the heavier weight of the small ponytail’s gone, his grandson’s hair springs up in an all-too familiar way. “There we go. Now, let’s go find one of your father’s old shirts and see about pulling this off.”

            Minoru runs his hand along the back of his head, curiously. “It feels different.”

            “Of course it does,” Sasuke says, brushing the hair off his grandson’s shoulders. “Now, help me up. My leg’s aching.”

            They go inside and Karin gets one of those looks on her face when she spots them, but she doesn’t say anything. Sasuke knows she’s going to give him an earful later, though, but the idea of this prank is making him feel like a kid again and he thinks it’s worth a little scolding from his wife. She’s forgiven him for worse things.

            Minoru pulls one of his father’s old shirts over his head, the Uchiha fan big and bold on his back, and, for a moment, Sasuke is floored by how much his grandson looks like him. It’s like staring back in time. And then Minoru laughs, looking up with those big green eyes and the all too tan skin, and the illusion shatters.

            Sasuke shakes his head and smiles as he leads his grandson out of the house, shouting at the badly singed genin limping through his lawn that the weeds won’t pick themselves. He whispers his plan in Minoru’s ear and the boy nods eagerly. It’s a game now, but someday it won’t be and Sasuke can teach him how to _play_ ninja until he’s ready to _be_ ninja.

            They find Naruto lingering by the monument and Sasuke hides himself behind a tree, urging his grandson to go out there, and grins like an idiot as he sets a low-level genjutsu into place. Minoru goes through their little script easily, pretending to have mistaken the robed form of Naruto for the Sandaime from the back, and then starts wailing about how he can’t find his big brother and how the Uchiha district is missing. And predictably, Naruto panics over ‘Sasuke’ and something about quantum physics and time paradoxes before finally figuring out it’s probably a genjutsu. Minoru’s sheepish expression is all the confirmation Naruto needs and Sasuke knows the jig is up.

            Naruto hits Sasuke on the head, scolding him thoroughly, and the three of them head back into town, Minoru walking ahead of them.

            “Corruptor,” Naruto says, pretending to sulk, and Sasuke laughs, because it’s just how it is. He expects payback eventually.

            At the end of the day, when their grandchildren have all gone home and Rinji has finished scolding him for cutting Minoru’s hair for a prank and maiming another batch of genin, the house is empty and quiet again. Sasuke takes his pills, cursing out his trifocals, and climbs into bed next to Karin.

            “You’re an ass,” she says, cupping his face with a wrinkled hand. “But I love you anyway.”

            “Even with all these wrinkles?” he asks jokingly, “You’re such a strange woman. That’s probably why I married you.”

            Karin shakes her head, smiling as she lets down her hair from the bun she’s had it in. It’s almost all white now, a few stubborn strands of red hanging in there, and, absently, he brushes it off her shoulder. It’s funny how much they’ve changed and stayed the same. She gives him an amused look: “Don’t be silly, _I_ married _you_. Those wrinkles are going straight to your brain, old man.”

            He snorts in amusement and lies back, taking off his glasses and putting them aside. He then rolls onto his side, though his hip protests, so that he’s facing her. “You should have seen Naruto’s face, Karin. Minoru and I got him good.”

            “Teaching him to pull pranks on old men is hardly commendable,” Karin says, lying down. She rolls over to look at him and smiles. “But I know why you did it. It was a good thing.”

            “He’s a good kid,” Sasuke says, taking her hand in his.

            Karin nods, squeezing his hand. “He looks a lot like you.”

            Sasuke hums in agreement and sleepily adds, “He’ll be Hokage some day.”

            Karin nods sleepily and they both drift off to sleep together.

 


	100. Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> character death, reincarnation

            They find them at the end, a bloody, broken pair of bodies lying in the aftermath. Their hands are but the length of a fingertip apart, as if they had died reaching for one another, and their heads face each other, their lips frozen in soft, happy smiles.

            Naruto and Sakura mourn hardest for their lost teammate. From others, they learn the redheaded girl’s name and they mourn her, too. There is something in the haunting way they reached for one another in death that lingers and tells them this was a girl who meant something to him.

            They dare not leave the bodies. Instead, they burn them together and bury the ashes in a secret place, carving the names in their memories.

            “Maybe we’ll see them again,” Sakura says.

            Neji agrees – calls it destiny and speaks of reincarnation. Hinata suggests they’ve become birds and Ino suspects flowers, while Kiba laughs and says they’re fools, since it’s obvious they’ve become dogs with that kind of loyalty to each other. Shikamaru calls them troublesome and Shino says nothing.

            Time passes and they get older, they have kids, and those kids grow older.

            One day, Naruto goes to the Academy to address the new potential genin. He is not as young as he once was and soon he’ll turn over his hat to Konohamaru. He enters, immediately everyone snaps to attention, and he starts to speak the speech he’s made a hundred times when something catches his eye. Two of the potentials he recognizes and not because they’re the children of his friends. No, they are strangers to him.

            The boy is not Sasuke, but there is something in the set of his jaw and the way he holds himself that is so Sasuke that it’s jarring.

            The girl in the back is not the redheaded girl from the valley and, yet, he sees that broken girl’s face in her.

            Naruto finishes his speech and sits to observe the tests. Discreetly, he taps into his sage mode and feels out the chakra of those familiar strangers. The girl’s is curious, responding to his gentle nudge with a questioning feeling, and the boy’s is lightning and fire that gives him a wary spark and, though it’s smaller and clearer than it ever was, it is definitely familiar.

            He smiles and silently welcomes Sasuke and Karin back.


End file.
